A History of Short Words

From the New York Times Crossword Puzzle

DIRE

Thu, 13 Feb '25
All but hopeless
Mon, 27 Jan '25
Extremely serious
Sun, 29 Dec '24
Grave
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