awful
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aw·ful
(ô′fəl)adj.
1. Extremely bad or unpleasant; terrible: had an awful day at the office.
2. Commanding awe: "this sea, whose gently awful stirrings seem to speak of some hidden soul beneath" (Herman Melville).
3. Filled with awe, especially:
a. Filled with or displaying great reverence.
b. Obsolete Afraid.
4. Formidable in nature or extent: an awful burden; an awful risk.
adv. Informal
Extremely; very: was awful sick.
[Middle English aweful, awe-inspiring, blend of awe, awe; see awe, and *ayfull, awful (from Old English egefull : ege, dread + -full, -ful).]
aw′ful·ly adv.
aw′ful·ness n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
awful
(ˈɔːfʊl)adj
1. very bad; unpleasant
2. archaic inspiring reverence or dread
3. archaic overcome with awe; reverential
adv
not standard (intensifier): an awful cold day.
[C13: see awe, -ful]
ˈawfulness n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
aw•ful
(ˈɔ fəl)adj.
1. extremely bad; unpleasant; disagreeable.
2. inspiring fear; terrible: an awful noise.
3. solemnly impressive: the awful majesty of the peaks.
4. extremely dangerous, risky, injurious, etc.: an awful fall; to take an awful chance.
5. Informal. very great: an awful lot of money.
6. full of awe; reverential.
adv. 7. Informal. very; extremely: It's awful hot here.
aw′ful•ness, n.
usage: Although some object to any use of awful or awfully in any sense not connected with a feeling of awe, both have been used in other senses for several centuries. awful and awfully as adverbial intensifiers - awful(ly) clever; awful(ly) cold - appear in the early 19th century, following much the same pattern as horribly and dreadfully. In the sense “inspiring awe or fear” awesome has largely replaced awful.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
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| Adj. | 1. |  awful - exceptionally bad or displeasing; "atrocious taste"; "abominable workmanship"; "an awful voice"; "dreadful manners"; "a painful performance"; "terrible handwriting"; "an unspeakable odor came sweeping into the room"bad - having undesirable or negative qualities; "a bad report card"; "his sloppy appearance made a bad impression"; "a bad little boy"; "clothes in bad shape"; "a bad cut"; "bad luck"; "the news was very bad"; "the reviews were bad"; "the pay is bad"; "it was a bad light for reading"; "the movie was a bad choice" |
| 2. |  awful - causing fear or dread or terror; "the awful war"; "an awful risk"; "dire news"; "a career or vengeance so direful that London was shocked"; "the dread presence of the headmaster"; "polio is no longer the dreaded disease it once was"; "a dreadful storm"; "a fearful howling"; "horrendous explosions shook the city"; "a terrible curse"direful, dread, dreaded, dreadful, fearsome, frightening, horrendous, terrible, dire, horrific, fearful alarming - frightening because of an awareness of danger | |
| 3. |  awful - offensive or even (of persons) malicious; "in a nasty mood"; "a nasty accident"; "a nasty shock"; "a nasty smell"; "a nasty trick to pull"; "Will he say nasty things at my funeral?"- Ezra Poundunpleasant - disagreeable to the senses, to the mind, or feelings ; "an unpleasant personality"; "unpleasant repercussions"; "unpleasant odors" | |
| 4. |  awful - inspired by a feeling of fearful wonderment or reverence; "awed by the silence"; "awful worshippers with bowed heads"reverent - feeling or showing profound respect or veneration; "maintained a reverent silence" | |
| 5. | awful - extreme in degree or extent or amount or impact; "in a frightful hurry"; "spent a frightful amount of money" colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech extraordinary - beyond what is ordinary or usual; highly unusual or exceptional or remarkable; "extraordinary authority"; "an extraordinary achievement"; "her extraordinary beauty"; "enjoyed extraordinary popularity"; "an extraordinary capacity for work"; "an extraordinary session of the legislature" | |
| 6. |  awful - inspiring awe or admiration or wonder; "New York is an amazing city"; "the Grand Canyon is an awe-inspiring sight"; "the awesome complexity of the universe"; "this sea, whose gently awful stirrings seem to speak of some hidden soul beneath"- Melville; "Westminster Hall's awing majesty, so vast, so high, so silent"impressive - making a strong or vivid impression; "an impressive ceremony" | |
| Adv. | 1. | awful - used as intensifiers; "terribly interesting"; "I'm awful sorry" colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
awful
adjective
1. disgusting, terrible, tremendous, offensive, gross, nasty, foul, horrible, dreadful, unpleasant, revolting, stinking, sickening, hideous, vulgar, vile, distasteful, horrid, frightful, nauseating, odious, repugnant, loathsome, abominable, nauseous, detestable, godawful (slang), hellacious (U.S. slang) an awful smell of paint
2. bad, poor, terrible, appalling, foul, rubbish (slang), shit (taboo slang), dreadful, unpleasant, dire, crap (taboo slang), horrendous, ghastly, from hell (informal), atrocious, deplorable, abysmal, frightful, shite (taboo slang), hellacious (U.S. slang) Even if the weather's awful there's still lots to do.
bad great (informal), wonderful, excellent, brilliant, amazing, smashing (informal), superb, fantastic, tremendous, magnificent, fabulous (informal), marvellous, terrific, sensational (informal), miraculous, super (informal)
bad great (informal), wonderful, excellent, brilliant, amazing, smashing (informal), superb, fantastic, tremendous, magnificent, fabulous (informal), marvellous, terrific, sensational (informal), miraculous, super (informal)
3. shocking, serious, alarming, distressing, dreadful, horrifying, horrific, hideous, harrowing, gruesome Her injuries were massive; it was awful.
4. unwell, poorly (informal), ill, terrible, sick, ugly, crook (Austral. & N.Z. informal), unhealthy, unsightly, queasy, out of sorts (informal), off-colour, under the weather (informal), green about the gills I looked awful and felt quite sleepy.
adverb
1. very, highly, really, deeply, particularly, seriously (informal), truly, extremely, absolutely, terribly, remarkably, unusually, jolly (Brit.), wonderfully, profoundly, decidedly, awfully (informal), acutely, exceedingly, excessively, eminently, superlatively, uncommonly Gosh, you're awful pretty.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
awful
adjectiveadverb
Informal. To a high degree:
awfully, dreadfully, eminently, exceedingly, exceptionally, extra, extremely, greatly, highly, most, notably, very.
Chiefly Regional: mighty.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
شَنِيعفَظيع، سَيء جِداًمُفْزِع، مُرْعِبهائِل، عَظيم
hroznýnesmírnýprudkýstrašný
forfærdeligfrygteligrædselsfuld
kauhea
strašan
hræîilegurofboîslegur; hræîilegurógurlegur, hræîilegur
ひどい
몹시 나쁜
baisiaibaisumasbaisussiaubas
ārkārtīgsbriesmīgsšausmīgs
grozenstrašen
fruktansvärd
แย่มาก
kinh khủng
awful
[ˈɔːfəl]A. ADJ
1. (= dreadful) [weather] → horrible, espantoso; [clothes, crime] → horroroso, espantoso; [smell, dilemma] → terrible
what awful weather! → ¡qué tiempo más horrible or espantoso!
we met and I thought he was awful → le conocí y me cayó fatal
you are awful! (= wicked) → ¡qué malo eres!, ¡qué mala idea tienes!
to feel awful (= embarrassed, guilty) → sentirse fatal; (= ill) → encontrarse or sentirse fatal
I felt awful about what had happened → me sentía fatal por lo que había ocurrido
I have an awful feeling something's going to happen → tengo la terrible sospecha de que va a pasar algo
how awful! → ¡qué horror!
how awful for you! → ¡qué mal rato habrás pasado!
to look awful → tener muy mal aspecto
you look awful, are you feeling all right? → tienes muy mala cara or tienes muy mal aspecto, ¿te encuentras bien?
for one awful moment I thought I'd broken it → ¡fue horrible! por un momento pensé que se me había roto
it smells awful → huele fatal
prices have gone up something awful → los precios han subido cosa mala
they beat him up something awful → le dieron una tremenda paliza
what an awful thing to happen! → ¡qué cosa tan horrible or terrible!
the awful thing is that he thought we were joking → lo peor (del caso) es que él pensó que estábamos de broma
you said some pretty awful things → hiciste algunos comentarios muy hirientes
I learned the awful truth → supe la amarga verdad
what awful weather! → ¡qué tiempo más horrible or espantoso!
we met and I thought he was awful → le conocí y me cayó fatal
you are awful! (= wicked) → ¡qué malo eres!, ¡qué mala idea tienes!
to feel awful (= embarrassed, guilty) → sentirse fatal; (= ill) → encontrarse or sentirse fatal
I felt awful about what had happened → me sentía fatal por lo que había ocurrido
I have an awful feeling something's going to happen → tengo la terrible sospecha de que va a pasar algo
how awful! → ¡qué horror!
how awful for you! → ¡qué mal rato habrás pasado!
to look awful → tener muy mal aspecto
you look awful, are you feeling all right? → tienes muy mala cara or tienes muy mal aspecto, ¿te encuentras bien?
for one awful moment I thought I'd broken it → ¡fue horrible! por un momento pensé que se me había roto
it smells awful → huele fatal
prices have gone up something awful → los precios han subido cosa mala
they beat him up something awful → le dieron una tremenda paliza
what an awful thing to happen! → ¡qué cosa tan horrible or terrible!
the awful thing is that he thought we were joking → lo peor (del caso) es que él pensó que estábamos de broma
you said some pretty awful things → hiciste algunos comentarios muy hirientes
I learned the awful truth → supe la amarga verdad
4. (as intensifier) there were an awful lot of people → había un montón de gente
I've got an awful lot of work to do → tengo un montón de trabajo
it's an awful nuisance → es una molestia terrible
he's an awful bore → es terriblemente pesado
she's got an awful cheek! → ¡tiene una cara increíble!
it seems an awful waste → parece un desperdicio terrible
I've got an awful lot of work to do → tengo un montón de trabajo
it's an awful nuisance → es una molestia terrible
he's an awful bore → es terriblemente pesado
she's got an awful cheek! → ¡tiene una cara increíble!
it seems an awful waste → parece un desperdicio terrible
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
awful
[ˈɔːfʊl] adj
(= terrible) [jokes, weather, place, war] → affreux/euse; [shock] → terrible
That's awful! → C'est affreux!
to feel awful (= ill) → se sentir affreusement mal
to look awful (= ill) → avoir très mauvaise mine, avoir une sale mine
That's awful! → C'est affreux!
to feel awful (= ill) → se sentir affreusement mal
to look awful (= ill) → avoir très mauvaise mine, avoir une sale mine
(as intensifier) an awful lot of → énormément de
adv (= very) → vachement
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
awful
adj
(inf) → schrecklich, furchtbar; how awful! → das ist wirklich schlimm!; you are awful! → du bist wirklich schrecklich!; the film was just too awful for words → der Film war unbeschreiblich schlecht; an awful lot of time/money → furchtbar viel Zeit/Geld; it’s not an awful lot better → das ist nicht arg viel besser
adv (strictly incorrect) = awfully he was crying something awful → er weinte ganz schrecklich or furchtbar
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
awful
[ˈɔːf/əl] adj → terribile, orribilean awful lot of (people, cars, dogs) → un numero incredibile di (jam, flowers) → una quantità incredibile di
how awful! → che orrore!
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
awful
(ˈoːful) adjective1. very great. an awful rush.
2. very bad. This book is awful; an awful experience.
3. severe. an awful headache.
ˈawfully adverb very. awfully silly.
ˈawfulness nounKernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
awful
→ شَنِيع hrozný rædselsfuld schrecklich φρικτός espantoso kauhea affreux strašan orribile ひどい 몹시 나쁜 afschuwelijk skrekkelig straszny horrível ужасный fruktansvärd แย่มาก berbat kinh khủng 糟糕的Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
awful
a. terrible, desagradable; tremendo-a;
how ___ → ¡qué ___!
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
Collins Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009