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

That's an awful lot of wishful thinking, an awful lot of kicking a decision down the road.

Read more on BBC

“At the end of the day, though, he is determined to find a silver lining in this awful situation.”

Read more on Salon

"It was really striking to see and hear the women involved testify to the awful things they went through," said Henderson.

Read more on BBC

Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Cundy, for BTP, said: "Our investigation into the awful incident at Huntingdon has also focused on other offences previously reported to police or identified by our investigation."

Read more on BBC

On this occasion - one of the most eagerly anticipated Ashes series in recent memory - England are looking to reverse an awful record - they have not won a Test in Australia since 2011.

Read more on 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