awful
Americanadjective
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extremely bad; unpleasant; ugly.
awful paintings; an awful job.
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inspiring fear; dreadful; terrible.
an awful noise.
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solemnly impressive; inspiring awe.
the awful majesty of alpine peaks.
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full of awe; reverential.
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extremely dangerous, risky, injurious, etc..
That was an awful fall she had. He took an awful chance by driving here so fast.
adverb
adjective
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very bad; unpleasant
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archaic inspiring reverence or dread
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archaic overcome with awe; reverential
adverb
Commonly Confused
Although some object to any use of awful or awfully in any sense not connected with a feeling of awe, both have been used in other senses for several centuries. Awful and awfully as adverbial intensifiers— awful ( ly ) hot; awful ( ly ) cold —appear in the early 19th century, following much the same pattern as horribly and dreadfully. As an adverb awful is less formal in tone than awfully. In the sense “inspiring awe or fear” awesome has largely replaced awful.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of awful
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English a(g)heful, aueful; awe + -ful; replacing Old English egefull “dreadful”
Explanation
Describe something that is exceptionally bad as awful, but be careful: Saying your mom's cooking is awful may be truthful, but it's also likely to get you a frying pan upside the head. In addition to meaning exceptionally bad, the adjective awful can also mean exceedingly large or extreme in degree. That new car costs an awful lot of money, for example. Perhaps you should think about a bus pass or bicycle instead! As an adverb, awful is used as an intensifier, meaning very. As in, "It's taking you an awful long time to finish that paper. Stop procrastinating."
Vocabulary lists containing awful
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Dave Chappelle is equally awful, content-wise, but at least he’s good at being the absolute worst, if that can be a thing for the sake of this argument.
From Salon ● Oct. 14, 2026
Not before an awful lot of work, though, and Charles Crocker, the indefatigable, hard-handed railroad magnate in charge of the Central Pacific’s construction crews, looked around for people to do it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
In modern lingo, plague is shorthand for something really awful: “I caught the plague last weekend!,”
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026
"They have announced that they plan to close the site by the end of 2027 - that seems very final to me. The workers deserve an awful lot better."
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
Opening his eyes he saw an awful sight.
From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville
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