Home US English awful

Definition of awful in English:

awful

Pronunciation /ˈôfəl/ /ˈɔfəl/

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adjective

  • 1Very bad or unpleasant.

    ‘the place smelled awful’
    • ‘I look awful in a swimsuit’
    • ‘an awful speech’
    • ‘Aside from that, I thought most of the speeches were pretty awful.’
    • ‘The problem is then he turned around and went to Columbia University on Wednesday and gave an awful speech on the economy.’
    • ‘The speeches can sometimes be awful but his was very amusing.’
    • ‘She finished this awful speech and looked at me triumphantly.’
    • ‘Such were the things I told myself to get through that awful speech.’
    • ‘It was awful, and it cheapened the brand, if a brand existed.’
    • ‘The wider one's sampling of a genre, the more abysmally awful stuff one encounters.’
    • ‘But above all it is the players who must be held accountable for this awful, pathetic display.’
    • ‘And so, as the film ended, I couldn't work out why what I watched seemed to be a well directed, interesting film, choked by awful dialogue and poor plotting.’
    • ‘Laughably awful dialogue is liberally slathered onto the stock adventure setup and the characters' true natures are obvious from the start.’
    • ‘Most made-for-TV animation is pretty bad, with uneven animation, awful scripts, and poor execution.’
    • ‘But on too many other things, he's been poor to awful - especially on class issues.’
    • ‘I'm not sure what was the most laughably awful thing about this movie.’
    • ‘Taking one spoon full into my mouth sent me hurling towards the sink to spit out the awful substance that I had chosen to try and digest.’
    • ‘Sure, the acting is laughably awful and the dialogue is unintentionally hilarious.’
    • ‘Injuries have hurt the offense a bit so far, and the pitching has been poor but not awful.’
    • ‘Cabbages are green, taste awful, and make lousy pets.’
    • ‘There were a few speeches, plus some awful, awful poetry and choral music.’
    • ‘Retaining so much creative advice from when I quit my terrible, awful job two months ago, we were able to draft his resignation letter in no time.’
    • ‘Not only does it look awful but it smells dreadful.’
    very unpleasant, disgusting, nasty, terrible, dreadful, ghastly, horrid, horrible, vile, foul, abominable, appalling, atrocious, horrendous, hideous, offensive, objectionable, obnoxious, frightful, loathsome, revolting, repulsive, repellent, repugnant, odious, sickening, nauseating, nauseous
    very bad, poor, dreadful, terrible, frightful, atrocious, hopeless, inadequate, inferior, unsatisfactory, substandard, laughable, lamentable, execrable
    View synonyms
    1. 1.1Extremely shocking; horrific.
      ‘awful, bloody images’
      • ‘There doesn't seem to be any ability to understand how or why terrorists might be led to do the admittedly horrifying and awful and frightful things that they've done.’
      • ‘Something so dreadful, so awful, so horrifying, that Miiken could not stand the sight of it.’
      • ‘It was no surprise really that when he made that shocking and awful accusation, he was across the Atlantic, presumably discussing already how the spoils of war were to be divided.’
      • ‘She presided over a quiet part of Ireland, and though it was not without its problems, extremely awful things didn't often happen.’
      • ‘Not every bad thing that happens, not even every awful, horrific thing, is necessarily traumatic.’
      • ‘So everything is stage managed to make the awful, horrific attack something very special.’
      • ‘At the time of writing, there is same optimism regarding an end to this bloody awful war that we should not be involved in, so I hope that our men and women can be saved and soon return to us.’
      • ‘The true origin of Valentine's Day is bloody awful, involving a saint and a massacre and gangsters and machine guns.’
      • ‘You committed some bloody awful crimes, I mean you burst into banks, you held guns to people's heads, you threatened them, you assaulted them.’
      • ‘One might object that Elizabethan and Jacobean Justice was every bit as cruel and bloody as the awful spectacle that Moryson witnessed.’
      • ‘On August 19, 1942, the Marines engaged the enemy in an awful, bloody battle.’
      • ‘He wrote letters to congressmen telling them that something awful and ‘bloody’ had occurred.’
      • ‘The awful sight of the bloody lieutenant writhing around on the ground was enough to sober him up from his delusional state.’
      • ‘What was so tragic was to know that, through no fault of their own, they are caught up in the awful atrocities being carried out in their homeland.’
      • ‘Is it just that the war isn't just, so that even small numbers of deaths in the war are awful atrocities?’
      • ‘In a strange sense this event helped to bring home that awful atrocity.’
      • ‘I'm tired of writing about the awful atrocities carried out in the name of Christianity, decency, or family values.’
      • ‘I am human because I feel pain when I hear or read about these awful crimes, the perpetrators don't give a damn.’
      serious, grave, bad, terrible, dreadful, alarming, critical
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    2. 1.2(of a person) very unwell, troubled, or unhappy.
      ‘I felt awful for being so angry with him’
      • ‘you look awful—you should go and lie down’
      • ‘Come lunch time and I felt really awful - had a terrible headache and just wanted to go home and go to bed.’
      • ‘Vinton still hovered over his wounded sister and felt extremely awful for shooting her.’
      • ‘It always left him feeling awful and despicable and very, terribly lonely.’
      • ‘I stood my neighbor up the night of the dance, and I felt awful about it.’
      • ‘We feel the negative judgment of others and consequently feel awful about ourselves.’
      • ‘She felt altogether awful and wondered if the stress of her life had something to do with her physical sickness.’
      • ‘Not rooting against the Yankees, per se, but not feeling awful that Clemens was obviously going to be pulled from the game.’
      • ‘I feel awful that I'm sending my guest out into the rain alone for breakfast, but I'm certain he'll manage.’
      • ‘The Boy and I were supposed to visit him this afternoon but I woke up sick and had to stay home, and now I feel awful for not going to see him.’
      • ‘The last time I'd ridden 200 miles, I felt awful the next day, like I'd been hit by a truck.’
      • ‘I was rebounding and using an expanse of dates to distract my attention from how awful I really felt.’
      • ‘Oh god, he looked awful…he looked so weak…and well, depressed.’
      ill, unwell, washed out, peaky
      remorseful, conscience-stricken, guilty, guilt-ridden, ashamed, chastened, contrite, sorry, full of regret, regretful, repentant, penitent, shamefaced, self-reproachful, apologetic
      View synonyms

  • 2attributive Used to emphasize the extent of something, especially something unpleasant or negative.

    ‘I've made an awful fool of myself’
    • ‘I made an awful fool of myself.’
    • ‘There's an awful risk of confusion for buyers.’
    • ‘It's still an awful burden.’
    • ‘Some people find these birds to be an awful nuisance.’
    • ‘But she had made an awful mess of it.’
    • ‘Though Jo had resolved never to marry, still she felt an awful loneliness as she wondered what direction her life should take.’
    • ‘Apparently he led his wife an awful dance.’

  • 3archaic Inspiring reverential wonder or fear.

    ‘He is not always the evil, ghoulish, awful, frightening character that sometimes the Satanists would picture him to be.’
    • ‘They walk in awful splendor, regal yet.’
    • ‘The awful majesty of God now will not be in the way to hinder perfect freedom and intimacy in the enjoyment of God.’
    • ‘How does God begin and carry forward his submissive prostration of the soul, before his awful justice?’
    awe-inspiring, awesome, impressive, amazing
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adverb

informal North American as submodifier

  • Awfully; very.

    • ‘we're an awful long way from the main road’
    • ‘This is an awful serious proposition… Let me argue it out for you.’
    • ‘And yet those games of the early 80s seem awful quaint now, don't they?’
    • ‘He has gotten awful buddy-buddy with them lately - maneuvering for the job?’
    • ‘This case should be awful tough for a prosecutor to put on.’
    • ‘Sounds awful touchy-feely, but sometimes the most revolutionary ideas are touchy-feely.’
    • ‘The locals have been wondering for an awful long time now when he will get around to scoring for their club.’
    very, extremely, really, exceedingly, immensely, thoroughly, decidedly, terribly, frightfully, dreadfully, fearfully, exceptionally, uncommonly, remarkably, eminently, extraordinarily, most, positively, particularly
    View synonyms

Phrases

    an awful lot

    • A very large amount; a great deal.

      ‘we've had an awful lot of letters’
      • ‘you've still got an awful lot to learn’
      • ‘In the end it was down to an awful lot of luck and an awful lot of serendipity.’
      • ‘As a result, I do seem to have ended up knowing an awful lot of detail about an awful lot of blogs.’
      • ‘You can spend an awful lot of time as an addict, an awful lot of useless time, debating such stuff.’
      • ‘What I try to do when I act is think a lot, an awful lot, before I show up on the set.’
      • ‘Terminally ill people require an awful lot of care and attention and therefore cost a lot of money.’
      • ‘There are a lot of people who have put an awful lot into the development of this school.’
      • ‘We have done an awful lot to get rid of a lot of the forms we have got and also the policies.’
      • ‘There was an awful lot to learn and a great deal of pressure, but he coped with it well.’
      • ‘There is an awful lot of detail in this report and I am sure it is all of interest to readers.’
      • ‘This is stupid and has caused an awful lot of congestion where there previously wasn't that much.’
      • ‘Slightly out on the timing, but an awful lot of Jack Aubrey seems to be there.’
      • ‘I'm not really sure any more who reads this thing, other than, it's an awful lot of people.’
      • ‘I have just spent an awful lot of money on a brand new PC, which will be coming in the next couple of weeks.’
      • ‘This is more of an update than a post and won't be of enormous interest to an awful lot of you, I'm sure.’
      • ‘There's an awful lot of research that's required still in order to optimise the process.’
      • ‘We had an awful lot of people and we couldn't get anything else on the field.’
      • ‘It is awesome to play in the World Cup anywhere, but to play in a game close to my family and friends means an awful lot.’
      • ‘If this fight is not to happen, the Las Vegas decision will have to be ratified by an awful lot of other people.’
      • ‘New employees would need an awful lot of shares to catch up with longer-serving workers.’
      • ‘I feel that - it is a very major thing, and obviously, an awful lot of hard work goes into it.’

Origin

Old English(see awe, -ful).