dread

"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";

"the student looked around the examination room with apprehension";

"I fear the winters in Moscow"; "We should not fear the Communists!";