Word.ws English Dictionary

awful

Syllables: aw·fulUK/ˈɔːfʊl/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ˈoːfəl/

awful adjective: very bad.

Adjective

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

  1. Very bad.
    • The smell of my socks is awful.
    • We saw such an awful film last night that we left the theater before the end.
  2. Exceedingly great; usually applied intensively.
    • I have learnt an awful amount today.
    • Shepard: You seem to know an awful lot about me.
      Geth: Extranet data sources. Insecure broadcasts. All organic data sent out is received. We watch you.2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-2 AI Core Room
  3. (dated) Causing fear or horror; appalling, terrible.
    • There was an air of gravity and importance about the garb of the person, and something indescribably odd, I might say awful, in the perfect, stonelike stillness of the figure, that effectually checked the testy comment which had at once risen to the lips of the irritated artist.1839, J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Schalken the Painter
    • At our old pastimes in the hall
      ⁠We gambol’d, making vain pretence
      ⁠Of gladness, with an awful sense
      Of one mute Shadow watching all.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXX”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 48
  4. (archaic) Awe-inspiring; filling with profound reverence or respect; profoundly impressive.
    • As I am seen could I but gaze on Thee / Awful in majesty and royal might1889, Harriet McEwen Kimball, Poems, "Omniscience"
    • God ought not to be commixed in our actions, but with awful reverence, and an attention full of honour and respect.1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 56, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
    Synonyms:
    awesome
  5. (archaic) Struck or filled with awe or reverence.
    • She spoke about Mr. Pendennis (a worthy little gentleman enough, but there are others as good as he) with an awful reverence, as if he had been the Pope of Rome on his throne, and she a cardinal kneeling at his feet, and giving him incense.1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 2, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850...
  6. (obsolete) Terror-stricken.
  7. (Ireland, especially) Prone to a particular temptation.
    • "It's her imagination, that's what it is," Millie said. "She's awful for imagining things, Wilfred agreed with me."1945, James Hanley, Crilley, and Other Stories
    • Tommy was just an awful man for the paper - couldn't get enough of the stuff! He'd have had the very Yellow Pages down him!2022, Lisa McGee, Derry Girls, season 3, episode 7
    Synonyms:
    terrible

Adverb

awful (not comparable)

  1. (colloquial) Awfully; dreadfully; terribly.
    • The race was run, and the dog ran "awful".1933 January 21, The Sydney Sportsman, NSW, page 1
  2. (Canada, US, colloquial) Very, extremely.
    • That's an awful big house.
    • She seemed awful nice when I met her yesterday.

Noun capitalized: AWFUL

AWFUL (plural AWFULs)

  1. (US, abbreviation, acronym, derogatory) Acronym of affluent white female urban liberal.
    • She's AWFUL... Affluent White Female Urban Liberal.2024 April 17, @bayareahausfrau, X (post)
    • The conservative radio host Erick Erickson described her [Renee Good] as an “AWFUL,” or “Affluent White Female Urban Liberal.”[2026 January 8, Michelle Goldberg, quoting Erick Erickson, “By Killing Renee Good, ICE Sent a Message to Us All”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC...
    Synonyms:
    AWFL

awful meaning in Arabic, Malay and Vietnamese

awful in Arabic

very bad
فَظِيع faẓīʕ, أَرْبَد ʔarbad

awful in Malay

very bad
teruk

awful in Vietnamese

causing fear; appalling; terrible
khủng khiếp

Examples of awful in a sentence

  • He was blubbering away something awful.
  • And then she stopped, and stood as if in awe / (For sleep is awful)[…].1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.143:
  • “They say the Battery's awful bad,” and he hummed dolorously[.]1889, Rudyard Kipling, “Only A Subaltern”, in Under the Deodars, Boston: The Greenock Press, published 1899, page 144:

All 40 example sentences with awful

Synonyms of awful

Forms of awful

Adjective
comparativeawfuller
comparativemore awful
superlativeawfullest
superlativemost awful
alternative form (archaic)awfull
alternative form (obsolete)aweful
alternative form (obsolete)awefull
Noun
pluralAWFULs

Origin of awful

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.

Words formed from awful

Phrases with awful

Words that rhyme with awful

Questions about awful

What does awful mean?
Awful means very bad.
What is awful in Arabic?
Awful in Arabic is فَظِيع (faẓīʕ), أَرْبَد (ʔarbad). See Awful meaning in Arabic.
How do you use awful in a sentence?
He was blubbering away something awful.
What part of speech is awful?
Awful can be an adjective, an adverb or a noun.
How do you pronounce awful?
Awful is pronounced /ˈɔːfʊl/ (UK).

Words near awful in the dictionary

  1. awf
  2. AWFC
  3. AWFL
  4. AWFLs
  5. awfs
  6. awful
  7. awful but lawful
  8. awfulest
  9. awfulization
  10. awfulize
  11. awfulized

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: awful (page history and authors); AWFUL (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “awful.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/awful. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.