If you watch the news, you’re quite familiar with this word. many dire situations arise around the globe and dire predictions—from the stock market to the climate.
Dire derives from the Latin, meaning fearful or unlucky. I think the crux of the word is in those two words together: we are filled with fear about those things we feel are outside our control. We sense that bad luck or misfortune just follows some people or even ourselves at times.
The meaning of dire meaning urgent or desperate also provides the flip side to this word—how we react when someone is in dire need. Do we offer assistance or solace or do we turn a blind eye, glad that this calamity had its sights elsewhere?
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