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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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.
“I sit in this thing and I wonder how in the hell it was such an awesome truck because it’s so stinkin’ small,” Jeff Kent says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
“Tech might have awesome earnings, but in one, two or three quarters, will it still be true?” asked David Russell, global head of market strategy at TradeStation.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 16, 2026
Asked for comment, Environmental Protection Agency press secretary Brigit Hirsch told AFP: "Fireworks are awesome and we hope everyone enjoyed the incredible shows in and around our nation's capital to celebrate 250 years of America."
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
And they described the Tartan Army's visit to the city as "awesome".
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
Her parents both have awesome jobs—her dad is really high up at the university and her mom does high-end real estate or something complicated where she wears business suits and always looks important.
From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell
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.
