Dreadnoughts were a type of Battleship popular in the early 20th century. The main attrihutes of a dreadnought were having large, powerful guns, and a high speed compared to standard battleships. Towards 1919, dreadnoughts fell out of favor, due to the cost of building, maintaining, and crewing them.

Today the term Dreadnought usually refers to anything large and powerful, that can take a beating, or is generally scary to fight against.