1923: penny dreadful Mar 21, 2020

The meaning of 'dreadful' has shifted over time, and this is perhaps clearest in the term 'penny dreadful'. These are cheap thriller novels, the price of which is hinted in the name—as with 'pulp fiction' or 'dime novel'—but the 'dreadful' in them refers to crime; another, though less common term for these was 'penny blood'. Dreadful in that sense wasn't 'bad' in terms of taste (though perhaps in terms of criminality) as it is used today, but actually referring to a deeper, genuine dread.

Support Word Facts on patreon.com/wordfacts