What does awful mean?

Definitions for awful
ˈɔ fəlaw·ful

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word awful.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. atrocious, abominable, awful, dreadful, painful, terrible, unspeakableadjective

    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"

  2. awful, dire, direful, dread(a), dreaded, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, frightening, horrendous, horrific, terribleadjective

    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. nasty, awfuladjective

    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

  4. awed, awfuladjective

    inspired by a feeling of fearful wonderment or reverence

    "awed by the silence"; "awful worshippers with bowed heads"

  5. frightful, terrible, awful, tremendousadjective

    extreme in degree or extent or amount or impact

    "in a frightful hurry"; "spent a frightful amount of money"

  6. amazing, awe-inspiring, awesome, awful, awingadverb

    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"

  7. terribly, awfully, awful, frightfullyadverb

    used as intensifiers

    "terribly interesting"; "I'm awful sorry"

Wiktionary

  1. awfuladverb

    Very, extremely; as, an awful big house.

  2. awfuladjective

    Oppressing with fear or horror; appalling, terrible.

  3. awfuladjective

    Inspiring awe; filling with profound reverence or respect; profoundly impressive.

  4. awfuladjective

    Struck or filled with awe.

  5. awfuladjective

    Terror-stricken.

  6. awfuladjective

    Worshipful; reverential; law-abiding.

  7. awfuladjective

    Exceedingly great; usually applied intensively.

  8. awfuladjective

    Very bad.

    My socks smell awful.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Awfuladjective

    Etymology: from awe and full.

    So awful, that with honour thou may’st love
    Thy mate; who sees, when thou art seen least wise. John Milton, Par. Lost, b. viii. l. 577.

    I approach thee thus, and gaze
    Insatiate; I thus single; nor have fear’d
    Thy awful brow, more awful thus retir’d,
    Fairest resemblance of thy Maker fair! John Milton, Paradise Lost, b. ix.

    Know then, that some of us are gentlemen,
    Such as the fury of ungovern’d youth
    Thrust from the company of awful men. William Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen of Verona.

    It is not nature and strict reason, but a weak and awful reverence for antiquity, and the vogue of fallible men. Isaac Watts, Improvement of the Mind.

Wikipedia

  1. Awful

    Awful is the twelfth single, and also third EP, by American alternative rock band Hole, from their third studio album Celebrity Skin. Released in April 1999 by Geffen Records as a CD single, the song's lyrics explore how the media and modern pop culture corrupt young girls and how they should rebel against this. The line "swing low, sweet cherry" in the song is an allusion to the African American spiritual hymn, "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot".

ChatGPT

  1. awful

    Awful generally refers to something extremely unpleasant, bad, or disagreeable. It is often used to describe distressing situations, poor-quality things, or strongly negative emotions. For example, a dreadful experience or terrible taste might both be described as "awful." It can also refer to causing fear or terror.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Awfuladjective

    oppressing with fear or horror; appalling; terrible; as, an awful scene

  2. Awfuladjective

    inspiring awe; filling with profound reverence, or with fear and admiration; fitted to inspire reverential fear; profoundly impressive

  3. Awfuladjective

    struck or filled with awe; terror-stricken

  4. Awfuladjective

    worshipful; reverential; law-abiding

  5. Awfuladjective

    frightful; exceedingly bad; great; -- applied intensively; as, an awful bonnet; an awful boaster

Wikidata

  1. Awful

    "Awful" is the twelfth single, and also third EP, by American alternative rock band Hole, from their third studio album Celebrity Skin. Released in April 1999 by Geffen Records as a CD single, the song's lyrics explore how the media and modern pop culture corrupt young girls and how they should rebel against this. The line "swing low, sweet cherry" in the song is an allusion to the African American spiritual hymn, "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot".

Editors Contribution

  1. awful

    very bad, horrible

    This year has been awful.


    Submitted by anonymous on May 2, 2019  

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'awful' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4137

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'awful' in Written Corpus Frequency: #873

  3. Adjectives Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'awful' in Adjectives Frequency: #431

How to pronounce awful?

How to say awful in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of awful in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of awful in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of awful in a Sentence

  1. Richard Levitan:

    Their X-ray's looked awful, their oxygen was terrible, and yet they're completely awake, alert on a cell phone, and they all said is they've been somewhat sick for days, and then only recently did they notice either shortness of breath or fatigue or something else.

  2. Sian Leah Beilock:

    This is an unthinkable tragedy that has shaken us to our core. Please know that we are all grieving together and I am thinking of you as we process this awful news as a community.

  3. Chief Justice John Roberts:

    This morning, Senator Schumer spoke at arally in front of the Supreme Court whilea case wasbeing argued inside, senator Schumer referred to two Members of the Court by name and said he wanted to tell them that, You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You will not know what hit you ifyou go forward with these awful decisions.

  4. Rob Carnell:

    I think there's a tendency for markets at times to just want to be positive unless you hit them repeatedly, and not just with bad news, but with new bad news, there's been an awful lot of bad news priced in. So perhaps the absence of new negatives are enough to allow for a small sense of positivity to creep in.

  5. Marco Bulmer-Rizzi:

    I went to bed and David was to follow me shortly. He was just reading his Kindle. I woke up 45 minutes later and heard this awful noise and I turned on the light and he was lying at the bottom of the stairs in a bloodbath.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

awful#1#9775#10000

Translations for awful

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

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"awful." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/awful>.

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