dreading

3 definitions • 3 examples

present participle of

to feel extremely worried or frightened about something that is going to happen or that might happen:

He's dreading the exam - he's sure he's going to fail.

[ + -ing verb ] I'm dreading having to meet his parents.

used to say that you do not want to think about something because it is too worrying:

I dread to think what would happen if he was left to cope on his own.