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
6.
Informal. very; extremely: He did an awful good job of painting the barn. It's awful hot in here.
[Origin: 1200–50; ME a(g)heful, aueful; see awe, -ful; r. OE egefull dreadful]
—Related forms
aw·ful·ness, noun
—Usage 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 anddreadfully. As an adverb awful is less formal in tone than awfully. In the sense “inspiring awe or fear” awesome has largely replaced awful.
exceptionally bad or displeasing; "atrocious taste"; "abominable workmanship"; "an awful voice"; "dreadful manners"; "a painful performance"; "terrible handwriting"; "an unspeakable odor came sweeping into the room" [syn: atrocious]
2.
causing fear or dread or terror; "the awful war"; "an awful risk"; "dire news"; "a career or vengeance so direful that London was shocked"; "the dread presence of the headmaster"; "polio is no longer the dreaded disease it once was"; "a dreadful storm"; "a fearful howling"; "horrendous explosions shook the city"; "a terrible curse"
3.
offensive or even (of persons) malicious; "in a nasty mood"; "a nasty accident"; "a nasty shock"; "a nasty smell"; "a nasty trick to pull"; "Will he say nasty things at my funeral?"- Ezra Pound [syn: nasty] [ant: nice]
4.
inspired by a feeling of fearful wonderment or reverence; "awed by the silence"; "awful worshippers with bowed heads" [syn: awed]
5.
extreme in degree or extent or amount or impact; "in a frightful hurry"; "spent a frightful amount of money" [syn: frightful]
6.
inspiring awe or admiration or wonder; "New York is an amazing city"; "the Grand Canyon is an awe-inspiring sight"; "the awesome complexity of the universe"; "this sea, whose gently awful stirrings seem to speak of some hidden soul beneath"- Melville; "Westminster Hall's awing majesty, so vast, so high, so silent" [syn: amazing]
adverb
1.
used as intensifiers; "terribly interesting"; "I'm awful sorry" [syn: terribly]
Aw"ful\, a. 1. Oppressing with fear or horror; appalling; terrible; as, an awful scene. "The hour of Nature's awful throes." --Hemans. 2. Inspiring awe; filling with profound reverence, or with fear and admiration; fitted to inspire reverential fear; profoundly impressive. Heaven's awful Monarch. --Milton. 3. Struck or filled with awe; terror-stricken. [Obs.] A weak and awful reverence for antiquity. --I. Watts. 4. Worshipful; reverential; law-abiding. [Obs.] Thrust from the company of awful men. --Shak. 5. Frightful; exceedingly bad; great; -- applied intensively; as, an awful bonnet; an awful boaster. [Slang] Syn: See Frightful.
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