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awful

adj
/ˈɔː.fʊl/UK/aːfə(l)/

Etymology

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”.

  1. inherited from agheful

Definitions

  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

    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.

  3. Causing fear or horror

    Causing fear or horror; appalling, terrible.

    • 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.
  4. ›+ 7 more definitions

    1. Awe-inspiring

      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 might
      • God ought not to be commixed in our actions, but with awful reverence, and an attention full of honour and respect.
      • And then she stopped, and stood as if in awe / (For sleep is awful)[…].

    2. Struck or filled with awe or reverence.

    3. Terror-stricken.

    4. 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."
      • 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!

    5. Awfully

      Awfully; dreadfully; terribly.

      • The race was run, and the dog ran "awful".

    6. Very, extremely.

      • That's an awful big house.
      • She seemed awful nice when I met her yesterday.
      • He was blubbering away something awful.

    7. Acronym of affluent white female urban liberal.

      • She's AWFUL... Affluent White Female Urban Liberal.
      • The conservative radio host Erick Erickson described her [Renee Good] as an “AWFUL,” or “Affluent White Female Urban Liberal.”

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for awful. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA