awful
/ˈɔːfʊl/ adjective, adverb
Forms awfuller awfullest AWFULs awfull aweful awefull
- adjective Very bad. “The smell of my socks is awful.”
- adjective Exceedingly great; usually applied intensively. “I have learnt an awful amount today.”
- adjective (dated) Causing fear or horror; appalling, terrible.
- adjective (now rare) Awe-inspiring; filling with profound reverence or respect; profoundly impressive.
- adjective (now rare) Struck or filled with awe or reverence.
- adjective (obsolete) Terror-stricken.
- adjective (especially Ireland, with "for") Prone to a particular temptation.
- adverb Awfully; dreadfully; terribly.
- adverb (US, Canada) Very, extremely. “That's an awful big house.”
Synonyms
awesome terrible AWFL atrocious abominable dreadful painful unspeakable dire direful dread dreaded fearful fearsome frightening horrendous horrific nasty awed frightful tremendous amazing awe-inspiring awing terribly awfully frightfully
Etymology
From Middle English agheful, awfull, auful, aȝefull, equivalent to awe + -ful. Compare Old English eġeful, eġefull (“terrifying; awful”).
The “very bad” sense is a pejorative semantic shift from the original sense of “awe-inspiring”.
Influenced by awful.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Oppressing with fear or horror; appalling; terrible; as, an awful scene. "The hour of Nature's awful throes." Hemans.
- adjective Inspiring awe; filling with profound reverence, or with fear and admiration; fitted to inspire reverential fear; profoundly impressive.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “awful”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details