AWFUL

awful, dire, direful, dread, dreaded, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, frightening, horrendous, horrific, terrible

(adjective) 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”

atrocious, abominable, awful, dreadful, painful, terrible, unspeakable

(adjective) 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”

amazing, awe-inspiring, awesome, awful, awing

(adjective) 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”

nasty, awful

(adjective) 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

frightful, terrible, awful, tremendous

(adjective) extreme in degree or extent or amount or impact; “in a frightful hurry”; “spent a frightful amount of money”

awed, awful

(adjective) inspired by a feeling of fearful wonderment or reverence; “awed by the silence”; “awful worshippers with bowed heads”

terribly, awfully, awful, frightfully

(adverb) used as intensifiers; “terribly interesting”; “I’m awful sorry”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Adjective

awful (comparative awfuller or more awful, superlative most awful)

Very bad.

Exceedingly great; usually applied intensively.

(now dated) Causing fear or horror; appalling, terrible.

(now rare) Inspiring awe; filling with profound reverence or respect; profoundly impressive.

(now rare) Struck or filled with awe.

(obsolete) Terror-stricken.

Worshipful; reverential; law-abiding.

Synonyms

• See also frightening

Adverb

awful (not comparable)

Awfully; dreadfully; terribly.

(colloquial, US, Canada) Very, extremely.

Source: Wiktionary


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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

25 April 2024

TYPIFY

(verb) embody the essential characteristics of or be a typical example of; “The fugue typifies Bach’s style of composition”


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