A History of Short Words

From the New York Times Crossword Puzzle

DIRE

Sun, 9 Jun '24
Dreadful
Thu, 28 Sep '23
Dismal
Fri, 7 Jul '23
Requiring immediate attention
Wed, 15 Mar '23
Life-or-death
Mon, 12 Dec '22
In ___ straits
Tue, 6 Dec '22
Potentially catastrophic
Sun, 1 May '22
Ominous
Fri, 15 Apr '22
Critical
Wed, 2 Feb '22
Grim
Sun, 26 Sep '21
Not looking good at all
Tue, 15 Jun '21
Warning of disaster
Fri, 8 Jan '21
Pressing
Sun, 3 Jan '21
Very serious