awfulness

English

Etymology

From Middle English aghfulnesse, equivalent to awful +‎ -ness.

Pronunciation

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Noun

awfulness (usually uncountable, plural awfulnesses)

1. The state or quality of being awful.
   • 1942, Emily Carr, “Characters”, in The Book of Small, Toronto, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →OCLC:

     Out came old Teenie, buzzing mad as a whole nest of wasps. Muttered awfulnesses came from her great padded bonnet.

   • 1961, Peter De Vries, chapter 3, in The Blood of the Lamb, Penguin, published 1982, page 36:

     "Why is the awfulness of families such a popular reason for starting another?"

2. The quality of striking with awe, or with reverence

   Synonyms: dreadfulness, solemnity

   • 1823, Thomas de Quincey, “On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth”, in Robert Morrison, editor, On Murder, Oxford World's Classics, published 2006, page 3:

     […] the knocking at the gate, which succeeds to the murder of Duncan, produced to my feelings an effect for which I could never account: the effect was—that it reflected back upon the murder a peculiar awfulness and a depth of solemnity […]

   • 1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., page 450:

     It is only when actually gazing on an active volcano that one can fully realize its awfulness and grandeur. Whence comes that inexhaustible fire whose dense and sulphurous smoke forever issues from this bare and desolate peak?

   the awfulness of this sacred place

3. The state of being struck with awe; a spirit of solemnity; profound reverence.