awful

English

Alternative forms

• awfull (archaic)

Etymology

From awe +‎ -ful.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːfʊl

Adjective

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

1. Oppressing with fear or horror; appalling, terrible.
2. (now rare) Inspiring awe; filling with profound reverence or respect; profoundly impressive.
   • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, I.56:

     God ought not to be commixed in our actions, but with awful reverence, and an attention full of honour and respect.

   • 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.143:

     And then she stopped, and stood as if in awe / (For sleep is awful) [...].

3. Struck or filled with awe.
4. (obsolete) Terror-stricken.
5. Worshipful; reverential; law-abiding.
6. Exceedingly great; usually applied intensively.

   an awful bonnet

   I have learnt an awful amount today.

7. Very bad.

   My socks smell awful.

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "awful" is often applied: day, truth, time, place, moment, mess, night, news, state, situation, smell, thought, person, pain, movie, consequence, crime, fate, death, tragedy, man, event, disease, story, condition, mistake, taste, picture, year, calamity, doom, film, catastrophe, secret, performance, storm, end, week, shape, choice.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:frightening

Translations

1. Oppressing with fear or horror; appalling, terrible.

oppressing with fear; appalling; terrible

• Catalan: horrorós
• Esperanto: aĉa
• Finnish: kauhea (fi), hirveä (fi), kamala (fi), karmea (fi), kaamea (fi), hirvittävä, kauhistuttava
• French: terrible (fr), épouvantable (fr), horrible (fr)
• German: schrecklich (de), furchtbar (de)
• Greek: απαίσιος (el) (apaísios)
• Navajo: hóyééʼ
• Norwegian: grusom, forferdelig

• Portuguese: horrível (pt), terrível (pt), medonho (pt), apavorante, temível
• Romanian: oribil (ro), teribil (ro), atroce (ro), îngrozitor (ro)
• Russian: ужасный (ru) (užásnyj), устрашающий (ru) (ustrašájuščij), ужасающий (ru) (užasájuščij)
• Scottish Gaelic: sgriosail
• Spanish: horrible (es), terrible (es), atroz (es)
• Turkish: berbat (tr)

inspiring awe

• Catalan: horrorós

• Finnish: hämmästyttävä

struck or filled with awe

• Finnish: hämmästynyt

terror-stricken — see terrorstricken

worshipful; reverential; law-abiding

• Finnish: jumalaapelkäävä (worshipful, reverential), lainkuuliainen (fi) (law-abiding)

exceedingly great

• Finnish: mahtava (fi)

very bad

• Catalan: horrorós

• Finnish: kauhea (fi), hirveä (fi), kamala (fi), karmea (fi), kaamea (fi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Bulgarian: страшен (bg) (strašen), ужасен (bg) (užasen)
• Czech: děsný, strašný
• Dutch: vreselijk (nl)
• Georgian: საშინელი (sašineli)
• German: schrecklich (de) (1), furchtbar (de) (1), ehrfurchtsvoll (2), riesig (de) (6), unglaublich (de) (6)
• Hebrew: איום (he) m (ayom), איומה f (aiuma)
• Irish: uafásach

• Japanese: 大変な (taihen na)
• Latgalian: vuosmeigs m, baimeigs m, buodrys m
• Latvian: šausmīgs m
• Norwegian: forferdelig, fryktelig, grusom
• Portuguese: (1) horrível (pt), (5) terrível (pt)
• Romanian: oribil (ro), groaznic (ro), îngrozitor (ro), teribil (ro)
• Scots: awfu, bowkin
• Spanish: horrible (es), espantoso, terrible (es), tremendo (es)
• Swedish: hemsk (sv)
• Turkish: iğrenç (tr)

Adverb

awful (not comparable)

1. (colloquial) Very, extremely; as, an awful big house.

Translations

colloquial: very, extremely

• Finnish: kauhea (fi), hirveä (fi)

See also

• awfully.

External links

• awful in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• awful in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911