awful

awful
1 adjective
1 very bad or unpleasant: The weather was awful. | a really awful book | These canned apricots taste awful! | I felt awful about not being able to help.
2 (only before noun) spoken used to emphasize how much or how good, bad etc something is: an awful lot (=a very large amount): I have an awful lot of work to do this week. | It made him look an awful fool.
3 look/feel awful to look or feel ill: You look awful - what's wrong with you?
4 literary making you feel great admiration or fear
- awfulness noun (U) 2 adverb (+ adj/adv) AmE spoken very: That kid's awful cute, with her red curls.

Longman dictionary of contemporary English. 2004.

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  • Awful — means extremely bad, unpleasant, or terrible; also amazing, full of awe, awe inspiring, awesome Awful may also mean: * Awful (song), a 1999 single by the band Hole * Awful Orphan , a 1949 cartoon * Awful Gardner, a notorious gambler * Awful End …   Wikipedia

  • Awful — Aw ful, a. 1. Oppressing with fear or horror; appalling; terrible; as, an awful scene. The hour of Nature s awful throes. Hemans. [1913 Webster] 2. Inspiring awe; filling with profound reverence, or with fear and admiration; fitted to inspire… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • awful — 1. There are two main stages in the development of this word from its primary meaning (which goes back to the time of King Alfred) of ‘inspiring awe’. First, from about 1800 it came to mean ‘very bad’ (as in awful weather, an awful time); then… …   Modern English usage

  • Awful — «Awful» Single de Hole del álbum Celebrity Skin Formato CD, 7 Grabación 1998 Género(s) Rock alternativo , power pop …   Wikipedia Español

  • awful — [ô′fəl] adj. [ME awful, agheful: see AWE & FUL] 1. inspiring awe; highly impressive 2. causing fear; terrifying 3. dreadful; appalling 4. full of awe; reverential 5. very bad, ugly, unpleasant, etc …   English World dictionary

  • awful — ► ADJECTIVE 1) very bad or unpleasant. 2) used for emphasis: an awful lot. 3) archaic inspiring awe. DERIVATIVES awfulness noun …   English terms dictionary

  • awful — index dire, heinous, lamentable Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • awful — (adj.) c.1300, agheful worthy of respect or fear, from aghe, an earlier form of AWE (Cf. awe), + FUL (Cf. ful). Replaced O.E. egefull. Weakened sense very bad is from 1809; weakened sense of exceedingly is by 1818 …   Etymology dictionary

  • awful — *fearful, dreadful, frightful, terrible, horrible, shocking, appalling, terrific, horrific Analogous words: impressive, *moving: solemn, *serious, grave: imposing, august, majestic (see GRAND): sublime, superb, *splendid: *ominous …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • awful — [adj] very bad; terrible abominable, alarming, appalling, atrocious, deplorable, depressing, dire, disgusting, distressing, dreadful, fearful, frightful, ghastly, grody*, gross*, gruesome, grungy*, harrowing, hideous, horrendous, horrible,… …   New thesaurus

  • awful — aw|ful1 [ ɔfl ] adjective ** used for emphasizing how unpleasant someone or something is: TERRIBLE: The smell was absolutely awful. This wine tastes awful. He had the awful feeling that everyone was laughing at him. There were these awful people… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

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