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Syllable division derived from spelling — this word is not in the pronouncing dictionary, so no phonetic transcription is shown rather than a guessed one.
direful is an adjective meaning "causing fear or dread or terror". It carries one recorded sense.
causing fear or dread or terror
“the awful war”
“an awful risk”
“dire news”
“a career or vengeance so direful that London was shocked”
“the dread presence of the headmaster”
“polio is no longer the dreaded disease it once was”
“a dreadful storm”
“a fearful howling”
“horrendous explosions shook the city”
“a terrible curse”
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for direful come from Princeton University’s WordNet. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.