Frank J. Wilstach, comp. A Dictionary of Similes. 1916.

Dreadful

Dreadful as the parting hour.
—Anne Brontë

Dreadful as the storm.
—Thomas Campbell

As dreadful as the Manichean god.
—William Cowper

Dreadful as a gathering storm.
—John Hay

Dreadful as the God of war.
—Homer

The King is dreadful as the grim lion in the valley.
—Pentaur

Dreadful, as hermit’s dreams in haunted shades.
—Alexander Pope

Dreadful as battle arrayed.
—Francis Thompson