awful

[aw-fuhl]

adjective

1. extremely bad; unpleasant; ugly.

   awful paintings; an awful job.

2. inspiring fear; dreadful; terrible.

   an awful noise.

3. solemnly impressive; inspiring awe.

   the awful majesty of alpine peaks.

4. full of awe; reverential.

5. extremely dangerous, risky, injurious, etc..

   That was an awful fall she had. He took an awful chance by driving here so fast.

adverb

1. Informal.,  very; extremely.

   He did an awful good job of painting the barn. It's awful hot in here.

awful

/ ˈɔːfʊl /

adjective

1. very bad; unpleasant

2. archaic,  inspiring reverence or dread

3. archaic,  overcome with awe; reverential

adverb

1. not_standard,  (intensifier)

   an awful cold day

Confusables Note

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

• awfulness noun
• quasi-awful adjective
• quasi-awfully adverb
• unawful adjective
• unawfulness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of awful¹

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English a(g)heful, aueful; awe + -ful; replacing Old English egefull “dreadful”

Word History and Origins

Origin of awful¹

C13: see _awe , _-ful

Example Sentences

Yeah, Mark fizzled in Yokohama, but boy was she awful.

From Los Angeles Times

He told his former captors, Hamas, to sign the deal for "their people…and the Middle East... War is wrong and awful for both sides".

From BBC

I really didn’t have an awful lot of baggage.

From Los Angeles Times

They tried starter Emmet Sheehan in the eighth in a six-run lead and he was awful, walking two and giving up two hits while getting just one out.

From Los Angeles Times

Gordon Mackenzie, who was a senior electrical engineer with Scottish Power Energy Networks until he retired in 2021, told BBC Scotland that he lost "an awful lot of sleep" about these older units.

From BBC

Related Words

• appalling 
• atrocious 
• depressing 
• dire 
• disgusting 
• distressing www.thesaurus.com
• dreadful 
• frightful 
• ghastly 
• gruesome 
• harrowing 
• hideous 
• horrendous 
• horrible 
• horrific 
• horrifying 
• nasty 
• shocking 
• tough 
• ugly