awesome
Americanadjective
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causing or inducing awe; inspiring an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, or fear.
an awesome sight.
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exhibiting or marked by awe; showing reverence, admiration, or fear.
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Slang. very impressive.
That new white convertible is totally awesome.
adjective
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inspiring or displaying awe
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slang excellent or outstanding
Commonly Confused
See awful.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of awesome
Explanation
An awesome something or someone is amazing, breathtaking, or overwhelming. Like traveling the globe in a hot air balloon or visiting the Taj Mahal. Or, if you're 7, hearing someone burp the alphabet. Awesome popped on the scene around 1600, probably in a church. It first meant “profoundly reverential,” but morphed later into an adjective meaning “inspiring awe.” Flash forward to the 20th century, when awesome transformed once again — this time into an everyday word for "impressive." These days it's synonymous with "outstanding" and "totally cool."
Vocabulary lists containing awesome
Beowulf vocabulary
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myPerspectives 9.5
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Wow! Synonyms for "Amazing"
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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.
The awesome herds Lewis and Clark saw will never return.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
"So, very excited, very pleased and it's not often you achieve a lap like today and it's a pretty awesome feeling when you do."
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
“It would be awesome if Hector set up in my dorm.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
The Reapers look awesome through cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt’s night-vision binoculars that make their skin glow an alien shade of green.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
We had to get up super early to hand out race day packets and cups of water along the trail, but it was awesome.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
