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Definition: Awful |
AwfulAdjective1. 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". 2. 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". 3. 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 Pound. 4. Inspired by a feeling of fearful wonderment or reverence; "awed by the silence"; "awful worshippers with bowed heads". 5. 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". Adverb1. (informal) used as intensifiers, as in "terribly interesting"; "I'm awful sorry". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "awful" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Slang | Made-up (Adjective). Source: The group uses the word having it derived from the sound of the word and its meaning. Much like bad meaning good. Definition: A person, place, or thing is full of awe, therefore making it desirable. Context: The word is used in the opposite it is generally coined. Social Source: The Stormin' Mormon's. Source: Compiled by The University of Oregon. (additional references) |
Tips from 1870 | Usage: Awful. Few words among the many that go to make up the vocabulary of American slang have been in longer use and have a wider range than the word awful. From the loftiest and most awe-inspiring themes to the commonest trifle, this much-abused word has been employed. A correct speaker or writer almost fears to use the word lest he should suggest the idea of slang, and thus detract from the subject to which the word might most fitly be applied. Even the grammatical form of the word is often violated in such expressions as "Isn't he awful nice?" "That hat of hers is awful pretty." To say awfully nice and awfully pretty would improve the grammar, but the gross vulgarism remains. The word, when properly used, means "inspiring with awe or dread" often accompanied with reverence, as when Milton says: "The trumpet spake not to the armed throng; And kings sat still with awful eye, As if they surely knew their sovran Lord was by." Source: Slips of Speech. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Synonyms: AwfulSynonyms: abominable (adj), amazing (adj), atrocious (adj), awed (adj), awe-inspiring (adj), awesome (adj), awing (adj), dire (adj), direful (adj), dread(a) (adj), dreaded (adj), dreadful (adj), fearful (adj), fearsome (adj), frightening (adj), horrendous (adj), horrific (adj), nasty (adj), painful (adj), terrible (adj), unspeakable (adj), awfully (adv), frightfully (adv), terribly (adv). (additional references) |
| Antonym: nice (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Fear | Inspiring fear; Verb: alarming; formidable, redoubtable; perilous; (danger); portentous; fearful; dread, dreadful; fell; dire, direful; shocking; terrible, terrific; tremendous; horrid, horrible, horrific; ghastly; awful, awe-inspiring; revolting; (painful); Gorgonian. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Awful |
| English words defined with "awful": abominable, amazing, atrocious, awe-inspiring, awesome, awfully, awing ♦ dire, direful, dread, dreaded, dreadful ♦ fearful, fearsome, forsooth, frightening, frightfully ♦ horrendous, horrific ♦ image, in truth ♦ larceny ♦ mental image ♦ Overawful ♦ painful, put ♦ really ♦ stealing, subject ♦ terrible, terribly, theft, thievery, thieving, truly ♦ unspeakable ♦ Valkyria ♦ waxen, waxlike, waxy. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "awful": Achan, Adjective or Adverb, Anger ♦ Bats, bogo-sort ♦ Coenobite, Commonwealth ♦ Elvis ♦ FASHION, Female, FOREORDINATION, fork, FORMA, Fusberta ♦ ghost, GOOSE, GORGON ♦ Hurricane ♦ IMMODEST ♦ Jeff K. ♦ Misnomers ♦ suxxors ♦ WALTON. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "awful": Overawful. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | If life's an awful bore, and living's just a chore that we do caus' death's not much fun. I just have the antidote, and though i mustn't gloat at the Moulin Rouge (Moulin Rouge!; writing credit: Baz Luhrmann; Craig Pearce) Awful fast (Red River; writing credit: Borden Chase) But I guess I'd say if it is just us seems like an awful waste of space (Contact; writing credit: Carl Sagan;) I think everybody at the store already knows about it. Maureen Ledbetter told the most awful story about why you ain't allowed at the First Baptist Church no more (Sling Blade; writing credit: Charles Chaplin) He made an awful lot of money (Citizen Kane; writing credit: Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles) | |
Lyrics | It died with an awful sound (Smoke on the Water; performing artist: Deep Purple) And kill that man who gave me that awful name (A Boy Named Sue; performing artist: Johnny Cash) There's an awful lot of breathing room (If You're Gone; performing artist: Matchbox 20) And life was nothing but an awful song (I Believe I Can Fly; performing artist: R. Kelly) It's awful, it's putrid, it's crummy, it's stupid, gonna throw my set away (I Can't Watch This; performing artist: Weird Al Yankovic) | |
Clever | Monday is an awful way to spend 1 7th of your life. (references; author: unknown) | |
Tongue Twisters | Awful old Ollie oils oily autos. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | You Are Awful Ooh (1972) How Awful About Allan (1970) The Awful Tooth (1952) Awful Orphan (1949) The Awful Goof (1939) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | It was an awful moment. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Is she not too awful esplendida?. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | My awful Dad, as presented for the summer and fall season in West Va. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | What's the matter Emily, mal de mer? : I suppose so : these awful French goats!. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Having an awful good time. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | An awful blow. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | General view of St. Pierre, showing awful desolation wrought by the volcano. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Columbia Pictures presents Irene Dunne and Cary Grant in "The Awful Truth" with Ralph Bellamy, Marguerite Churchill, Cecil Cunningham. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Awful conflagration of the steam boat Lexington in Long Island Sound on Monday eveg., Jany. 13th 1840, by which melancholy occurence; over 100 persons perished / drawn by W.K. Hewitt ; N. Currier. lith. & pub., N.Y. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | McLubberty, himself. "My life has been an awful failure!". Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
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| "Broken liquor" by Michelle Kwajafa Commentary: "Every morning on my walk to the train i see a new broken seagrams bottle. somebody around there drinks an awful lot of it." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Author | Quotation |
Emily Dickinson | Of Consciousness, her awful Mate. The Soul cannot be rid -- as easy the secreting her behind the Eyes of God. |
Fyodor Dostoyevski | The awful thing is that beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and the devil are fighting there, and the battlefield is the heart of man. |
Gioacchino Rossini | Wagner had some wonderful moments but awful half hours. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
Winston S. Churchill | 1946 | The awful ruin of Europe, with all its vanished glories, and of large parts of Asia glares us in the eyes. ("Iron Curtain" Speech) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish | Douglas Adams | The Census report, like most such surveys, had cost an awful lot of money and didn't tell anybody anything they didn't already know - except that every single person in the Galaxy had 2.4 legs and owned a hyena |
Scarlet Letter | Hawthorne, Nathaniel | It was, indeed, a majestic idea, that the destiny of nations should be revealed, in these awful hieroglyphics, on the cope of heaven |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | In the fearful reverie into which its presence casts the soul, the awful apparition of the scaffold confounds itself with its horrid work |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | Try to imagine the awful meaning of this |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | Willy was bashful, awful bashful |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Economic History | Ireland | In a major change of direction, the Government of Ireland (GOI) has signaled that it will seek to attract the participation of non-Irish, including U.S., firms to roll-out the NDP. This change in government policy is an acknowledgment that Irish construction and engineering firms will not be able to meet the objectives of the 2000-2006 NDP. According to Prime Minister Ahern in 2000, "Within two years an awful lot of EU contracts are going to go to foreign companies. (references) |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | FEMALE, n. One of the opposing, or unfair, sex. The Maker, at Creation's birth, With living things had stocked the earth. From elephants to bats and snails, They all were good, for all were males. But when the Devil came and saw He said: "By Thine eternal law Of growth, maturity, decay, These all must quickly pass away And leave untenanted the earth Unless Thou dost establish birth" -- Then tucked his head beneath his wing To laugh -- he had no sleeve -- the thing With deviltry did so accord, That he'd suggested to the Lord. The Master pondered this advice, Then shook and threw the fateful dice Wherewith all matters here below Are ordered, and observed the throw; Then bent His head in awful state, Confirming the decree of Fate. From every part of earth anew The conscious dust consenting flew, While rivers from their courses rolled To make it plastic for the mould. Enough collected (but no more, For niggard Nature hoards her store) He kneaded it to flexible clay, While Nick unseen threw some away. And then the various forms He cast, Gross organs first and finer last; No one at once evolved, but all By even touches grew and small Degrees advanced, till, shade by shade, To match all living things He'd made Females, complete in all their parts Except (His clay gave out) the hearts. "No matter," Satan cried; "with speed I'll fetch the very hearts they need" -- So flew away and soon brought back The number needed, in a sack. That night earth range with sounds of strife -- Ten million males each had a wife; That night sweet Peace her pinions spread O'er Hell -- ten million devils dead! G.J. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Andy Rooney | Well, the FBI and the CIA have been inept at an awful lot of things for a great many years, and it just took something like this to reveal it to the American public. |
Carol Burnett | Sure I have. I mean, I've done a lot of awful stuff on our own show. One time we had such a bad show that I apologized on the air to people watching it. |
James Hewitt | I couldn't see her. And the wonderful thing is that there was a great effort made to get mail and that sort of thing to people on the front line. And it made an awful lot of difference. It is extremely good for morale. |
Mary Tyler Moore | I'm not going to tell you. I can't. Because it's been my experience in the past if I give away too much information, something awful happens and it doesn't work. |
Regis Philbin | The Rat Pak. And national exposure. I mean, it was a lot going on on that show and a chance to learn how they did it on network television. It was a wonderful three years and I did meet an awful lot of people. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Bill Clinton | 1993-2001 | Like Richard Dean, she helped pull her fellow citizens out of the rubble and deal with that awful tragedy. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Awful" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 99.69% of the time. "Awful" is used about 2,891 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 99.69% | 2,882 | 3,221 |
| Adverb (general) | 0.31% | 9 | 117,287 |
| Total | 100.00% | 2,891 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expression using "awful": an awful lot. Additional references. | |
| Hypenated Usage | |
Ending with "awful": every-night-something-awful, god-awful, time-awful. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "awful"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | afskuwelik (abhorrent, abominable, abysmal, alien, dreadful, gruesome, hideous, horrible, terrible). (various references) | |
Albanian | shumë (amount, awfully, badly, confoundedly, considerably, consumedly, damnably, dearly, deep, deuced, devilish, ever so, far, far and away, good few, greatly, heap, heartily, highly, jolly, largely, like mad, lot, lots of, lump, many, million, most, much, no end of, not a few, notedly, number, oodles, passing, passingly, Peck, poly-, precious, price, proceeds, quantum, quite, really, remarkably, scrip, so, sorely, sum, summation, thumping, too, tot, total, totality, umpteen, vastly, very, very much, widely), jashtëzakonisht i madh, i tmerrshëm (appalling, awesome, Creese, damnable, darn, deadly, deuced, dire, direful, eldritch, enormous, frightful, gruesome, hideous, horrible, horrid, infernal, macabre, parlous, perishing, redoubtable, redoubted, sad, scary, terrible, terrific, towering, tragic, tremendous). (various references) | |
Arabic | مفزع (appallingly, dread, dreadful, frightening, frightful, horrible, sanctuary, startling, terrible), ممتلئ رهبة, مهيب (august, awesome, fearful, grand, imposing, magnificent, majestic, portly, solemn, sublime, venerable), متوحش (barbarous, ferocious, ruffianly, savage), مخيف (dreadful, fearful, fearsome, frightening, frightful, grisly, gruesome, horrifying, scaremonger, terrifying), مروع (alarmed, appalling, dreadful, frightened, frightening, frightful, ghastly, grisly, gruesome, horrible, horrific, horrified, horrifying, macabre, panic stricken, scared, shocked, shocking, startled, startling, terrified, terrifying, terror stricken, terrorized), هائل (astronomic, astronomical, colossal, enormous, formidable, gargantuan, gigantesque, hugely, immense, massive, mighty, monstrous, monumental, mountainous, outsize, oversize, portentous, prodigious, rip roaring, stupendous, terrific, thumping, thundering, titanic, towering, tremendous, whopping, wicked, wide), ضخم (astronomic, astronomical, big, bulking, bulky, bull, colossal, colossus, considerable, distend, elephantine, enormous, exaggerate, extend, exuberant, fat, gargantuan, ghastly, giant, gigantic, goodly, grand, great, handsome, heavy, hefty, heroic, huge, hulking, husky, immense, intense, jumbo, large, leviathan, liberal, mammoth, mass, massive, mighty, monstrous, monumental, mountainous, outsize, oversize, palatial, phenomenal, powerful, prodigious, proud, round, royal, sizable, smart, strapping, strong, stupendous, sublime, swingeing, tall, tidy, titan, titanic, towering, tremendous, vast, voluminous, whacking, whopping), شنيع (atrocious, crying, enormous, foul, ghastly, ghoulish, gruesome, heinous, hideous, monstrous, nefarious, obnoxious, outrageous, ugly). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | страшен (alarming, almighty, apocalyptic, awesome, dire, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, forbidding, formidable, frightful, grisly, gruesome, hair raising, horrible, redoubtable, scary, terrible, terrific, tremendous, wicked), ужасен (aghast, appalling, bloodcurdling, deadly, desperate, deuced, devastating, dire, direful, dreadful, eldritch, execrable, fearful, fearsome, frantic, frightful, furious, ghastly, great, grievous, grisly, gruesome, horrible, horrid, horror-stricken, lurid, macabre, miserable, morbid, murderous, planet-stricken, planet-struck, precious, sad, septic, terrible, terrific, towering, tremendous, unholy, unmentionable, vicious, wretched), отвратителен (abhorrent, abominable, accursed, accurst, atrocious, beastly, bestial, carrion, creepy, cursed, damnable, detestable, disgustful, disgusting, distasteful, execrable, foul, fulsome, gruesome, hateful, heinous, hideous, horrible, ill-favored, ill-favoured, infamous, loathsome, lousy, miserable, morbid, nasty, nauseous, noisome, odious, offensive, punk, putrid, rank, repellent, revolting, rotten, septic, shocking, sickening, ugly, unholy, unsavory, unsavoury, unspeakable, villainous, wicked), много лош (sad, terrible). (various references) | |
Chinese | 可怕 (dreadful, fearful, formidable, frightful, hideous, horrible, terrible, terribly). (various references) | |
Czech | strašný (chronic, dire, distressing, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, formidable, frightful, ghastly, gruesome, hairy, hellish, hideous, hopeless, horrible, horrific, terrible, tremendous), otřesný (appalling, atrocious, fearful, fiendish, ghastly, harrowing, hateful, staggering, ugly, villainous), hrozný (abysmal, appalling, atrocious, damnable, dire, dreadful, excruciating, fearful, fearsome, formidable, frightful, ghastly, grim, hateful, hellish, horrible, mortal, terrible, terrific, tremendous), dìsný (dreadful, fearsome, great, grim, grisly, gruesome, hair-rising, hairy, horrid, lurid, macabre, unearthly, unholy). (various references) | |
Dutch | afschuwelýk (abhorrent, abominable, agonizing, alien, dismal, dreary, ghastly, gruesome, hideous, horrible, nasty), afgrijselijk (abominable, ghastly, hideous, horrible), afgrýselýk (abhorrent, abominable, agonizing, alien, dismal, dreary, ghastly, gruesome, hideous, horrible, nasty), verfoeilýk (abhorrent, abominable, alien, gruesome, hideous, horrible), ýselýk (abhorrent, abominable, abysmal, alien, dreadful, gruesome, hideous, horrible, terrible). (various references) | |
Esperanto | abomeninda (abhorrent, abominable, alien, gruesome, hideous, horrible). (various references) | |
Farsi | مهیب یاترسناک , ترس (Dismay, Dread, Fray, Horror, Misgiving), عظمت (Grandeur, Height, Magneficence). (various references) | |
Finnish | kauhea (dreadful, frightful, horrible, terrible), hirveä (dreadful, heinous, terrible). (various references) | |
French | hideux. (various references) | |
Frisian | in griis (abhorrent, abominable, alien, gruesome, hideous, horrible), ôfgryslik (abhorrent, abominable, agonizing, alien, ghastly, gruesome, hideous, horrible). (various references) | |
German | schrecklich (abominably, abysmal, appalling, awfully, dire, direly, dreadful, dreadfully, fearful, fearfully, formidable, frantic, frightful, frightfully, grim, gruesome, horrendous, horrible, horrid, horridly, horrific, horrifying, indescribable, indescribably, lurid, luridly, monstrously, painfully, shockingly, terrible, terribly, terrificly, terrifying, tremendous, tremenduously), furchtbar (abysmal, awfully, dreadful, fearful, fearfully, formidable, frightful, frightfully, gruesome, horrendous, horrible, parlous, redoubtable, shocking, shockingly, terrible, terribly, tremendous). (various references) | |
Greek | κακόσ (bad, evil, ill, maleficent, mischievous, naughty, sinistrous, spiteful, vicious, wicked), απαίσιος (appaling, atrocious, despicable, execrable, foul, horrible, nasty), τρομερόσ (dire, direful, formidable, frightful, grisly, redoubtable, terrible). (various references) | |
Hebrew | איום (dire, dreadful, fearful, fell, frightful, grim, hideous, intimidation, menace, terrible, terrific, threat). (various references) | |
Hungarian | borzasztó (astounding, dreadful, fearsome, god-awful, gruesome, horrendous, horrible, terrible, terrific, tremendous). (various references) | |
Icelandic | andstyggilegur (abhorrent, abominable, alien, gruesome, hideous, horrible), hryllilegur (abhorrent, abominable, abysmal, alarmed, alien, dismayed, dreadful, dumbfounded, gruesome, hideous, horrible, put out of countenance, terrible). (various references) | |
Indonesian | terama-amat (very), menakutkan (alarm, chiller, daunt, dreadful, ercy, ghastly, horrible, horrify, terrify), dahsyat (awe, awe inspiring, dire, dreadful, horrifying, imposing, terrifying). (various references) | |
Italian | orribile (abhorrent, abominable, agonizing, alien, beastly, dreadful, ghastly, grim, grisly, gruesome, hideous, horrible, horrific, macabre, revolting, shocking), orrendo (abhorrent, abominable, agonizing, alien, dismal, dreadful, dreary, frightful, ghastly, grisly, gruesome, hideous, horrendous, horrible, horrid, nasty, revolting, terrible), tremendo (appalling, dreadful, formidably, frightful, terrible). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 厳か (austere, dignified, impressive, majestic, stately). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | たいへん (dreadful, opposite side, terrible, very), すさまじい (absurd, amazing, dreadful, fierce, terrible, terrific, tremendous), おごそか (austere, dignified, impressive, majestic, stately), ひどい (cruel, heavy, serious, severe, terrible, very bad, violent), べらぼう (absurd, unreasonable), さんび (adoration, appalling, deep sorrow, extreme pain, glorification, praise), どえらい (great, hell of a lot, immense, terrible, very serious), とんだ (absolutely not, preposterous, serious, terrible), えらい (celebrated, eminent, excellent, famous, great, remarkable, terrible). (various references) | |
Korean | 지독한 (Appalling, Dashed). (various references) | |
Manx | atchimagh (awesome, shocking, terrible, tremendous), agglagh (appalling, apprehensive, terrifying, timorous). (various references) | |
Papiamen | abominabel (abhorrent, abject, abominable, abysmal, alien, disdainful, disgusting, dismal, dreadful, dreary, ghastly, gruesome, hideous, horrible, nasty, nauseous, terrible). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | awfulay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | terrível (abysmal, awesome, deadly, desperate, dire, direful, dread, dreadful, eldritch, fearful, fearsome, fell, frightful, gruesome, horrible, lurid, parlous, redoubtable, redoubted, terrible, terrific, tragic, tremendous, ungodly). (various references) | |
Romanian | avan (awfully, cruel, wicked), groaznic (appalling, awfully, baleful, desperate, dire, dreadful, foul, frightful, ghastly, grim, groovy, gruesome, horrendous, horrent, horrible, horribly, horrid, howling, lousy, miserable, miserably, monstrous, sad, scary, shocking, terrible, terribly, vile), înfricoşãtor (dire, dreadful, fearsome, frightening, horrent, horrible, horrifying, terrifying), îngrozitor (abominable, appalling, awfully, beastly, desperate, direful, dreadful, grisly, hideous, horrible, shocking, terrible, terribly, terrific, tremendous), crâncen (dreadful, ferocious, fiery, terrible, terrific), crunt (bloodthirsty, bloody, brutal, cruel, dreadful, horrible, sharp, terrible, violent), cutremurãtor (terrible, touching), enorm (astonishing, colossal, enormous, frightful, huge, hugely, hugeous, immense, immensely, infinite, massive, monstrous, monumental, mountainous, prodigious, terrible, thundering, tremendous, vast, whopping), înfiorãtor (awfully, creepy, dread, dreadful, dreadfully, foully, gruesome, terrible), feroce (barbarous, bloodthirsty, brutal, cruel, dreadful, fearful, ferocious, ferociously, fierce, inhuman, ruthless, savage, savagely, truculent, unmerciful), zguduitor (shaking, staggering, terrible, thrilling, tremendous), grozav (a, almighty, atrocious, awfully, bally, beastly, bully, classy, clinking, Dandy, desperate, dreadful, exceedingly, excessively, famous, fell, first rate, formidable, frightful, gee, ghastly, grand, horrible, horrid, immense, immensely, jolly, killing, like blazes, like hell, lovely, mad, magnificent, mightily, nicely, nifty, plush, plushy, proper, ripping, some, stunning, swell, terrible, terribly, terrific, thundering, topping, tremendous, tremendously, uncommonly, vastly, whacking), monstruos (colossal, huge, monster, monstrous, monstrously, shocking, strapping, unnatural), nãprasnic (amazing, impetuous, sudden, suddenly, terrible, tremendous, unexpected, violent), proclet (accused, cussed, damned, terrible), respingãtor (abhorrent, awfully, disagreeable, dreadful, dreadfully, forbidding, foul, fulsome, hideous, infamous, obnoxious, obscene, odious, odiousness, offensive, pestilent, rebarbative, repellent, repulsive, repulsively, scurvy, unprepossessing, verminous), sinistru (awfully, calamity, catastrophe, disaster, horrible, horribly, lugubrious, lugubriously, luridly, sinister), teribil (awfully, damnably, direful, dreadful, exceedingly, excruciating, extraordinary, fearsome, formidable, frightful, ghastly, like old boot, terrible, terribly, terrific, tremendous), turbat (enraged, frenzied, furious, furiously, mad, rabid, savage, tremendously), excepţional (beyond compare, exceptional, exceptionally, exceptive, extraordinary, felicitous, fine, highly satisfactory, outstanding, rarely, smashing, special, topping, uncommon, wonderfully). (various references) | |
Russian | ужасный (appalling, atrocious, blood-curding, chilling, chronic, damnable, damned, desperate, dire, direful, dreadful, fearful, formidable, frightful, ghastly, grisly, gruelling, gruesome, hair raising, hair-raising, hairy, heinous, horrendous, horrible, horrid, macabre, perishing, spooky, terrible, tragic, unearthy). (various references) | |
Scottish | uamhasach (dreadful, horrible, shocking). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | užasan (appalling, atrocious, dreadful, frightful, horrible, shocking, terrible), strašan (almighty, dire, direful, dreadful, fearsome, formidable, frightful, horrible, horrid, howling, redoubtable, redoubted, terrible, terrific), grozan (atrocious, creepy, dire, direful, ghastly, grisly, horrendous, lurid, macabre, plaguy, terrible). (various references) | |
Spanish | horrible (abhorrent, abominable, agonizing, alien, appalling, bleak, dire, direful, dirty, dismal, dread, dreary, evil, formidably, foul, frightful, ghastly, grim, grisly, gruesome, hellish, hideous, horrible, horrid, lousy, lurid, moldy, mouldy, nasty, shocking, stinking, terrible, terror, vile, wicked), abominable (abhorrent, abominable, abominably, alien, damnably, detestable, gruesome, hideous, horrible, infamous, rotten, ugly, undelightful, unspeakable), horroroso (abhorrent, abominable, agonizing, alien, dismal, dreadful, dreary, ghastly, gruesome, harrowing, hideous, horrible, horrid, horrifying, nasty, wicked). (various references) | |
Swedish | gräslig (abysmal, atrocious, beastly, dire, dreadful, ghastly, gruesome, horrible, horrid, rible, terrible, ugly, unsightly, vile). (various references) | |
Thai | แย่มาก, น่ากลัว (eerie, fearsome, gruesome, hideous, horrendous, horrid, horrific). (various references) | |
Turkish | oldukça büyük (goodish, liberal, pretty big, quite big, sizable, sizeable), müthiş (almighty, appalling, bang up, beastly, colossal, deadly, devastating, devilish, dire, direful, fabulous, fearful, filthy, formidable, frightful, gee-whiz, helluva, prodigious, ripping, smashing, splendid, splendiferous, stunning, stupendous, superb, swell, tearing, terrible, terrific, thundering, unco, wild), korkunç (appalling, awesome, cruel, desperate, dire, direful, disastrous, disgusting, dreadfull, eldritch, fearful, fearsome, formidable, frightening, frightful, ghastly, ghoulish, gory, grim, grisly, gruesome, haircurling, hair-raiser, hellish, hideous, horrendous, horrible, horrid, horrific, lurid, monstrous, redoubtable, scary, shocking, sickening, terrible, terrific, terrifying), berbat (abominable, abysmal, accursed, accurst, appalling, atrocious, bad, badly, beastly, bum, chronic, crappy, dashed, destroyed, deuced, devilish, disgusting, dread, dreadfull, egregious, execrable, fierce, flagitious, frightful, ghastly, grotty, hell, hell of, helluva, horrible, horrid, indifferent, infamous, infernal, ropy, rotten, screwed, shocking, sickening, spoilt, sticky, stinking, terrible, ungodly, unsavory, unsavoury, vicious, vile, villainous, violent, wretched), çok kötü (arrant, atrocious, chronic, rotten, terrible, thumbs down, violent). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | страшний (blood-curdling, dread, frantic, frightful, ghastly, grisly, hair raising, horrible, horrid, terrible), вселяючий благоговіння, величний (andean, dignified, elevated, exalted, godlike, lofty, magnific, magnifical, majestic, noble, olympian, portly, princely, proud, sovereign, stately), жахливий (abominable, abysmal, almighty, appalling, atrocious, awesome, blinking, blood-curdling, blue, chronic, damnable, damned, deadly, desperate, deuced, devilish, dire, direful, dreadful, eerie, eery, eldritch, enormous, fearful, fearsome, ferocious, flagrant, frightening, frightful, grievous, gruesome, horrible, horrific, iniquitous, macabre, monstrous, plaguy, scarey, scary, towering, tragic, tremendous, ungodly, wretched). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | phi thường; hết sức, oai nghiêm dễ sợ, đáng kinh sợ; uy nghi. (various references) | |
Welsh | arswydus (dreadful, fearful, horrible, terrible), anaele (direful, incurable), aflawen (cheerless, dismal, fierce, sad), ofnadwy (dreadful, terrible), diffwys (high, huge, steep, waste, wild), certh (right). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | abominabilis, atrox, aversabilis, dira, dirae, dirus, horribile, horribiles, horribili, horribilia, horribilis, horribilium. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "awful": awfuller, awfullest, awfully, awfulness, awfulnesses. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "awful": lawful, unlawful. (additional references) | |
Words containing "awful": lawfully, lawfulness, lawfulnesses, unlawfully, unlawfulness, unlawfulnesses. (additional references) | |
| |
"Awful" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: afal, aflu, afu, Afuu, Apfel, auful, aweful, awf, awfal, awfu, awfule, awfull, awfuls, awlful, awu, awuful, pawful, sawful, wafel. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "awful" (pronounced Ä"ful) |
| 4 | Ä" f u l | falafel, waffle. |
| 3 | -f u l | apocryphal, artful, baffle, baleful, bashful, beautiful, blissful, boastful, bountiful, careful, cheerful, colorful, deceitful, delightful, disdainful, disgraceful, disrespectful, distasteful, distrustful, doleful, doubtful, dreadful, duffel, dutiful, eventful, faithful, fanciful, fateful, fearful, fistful, fitful, flavorful, forceful, forgetful, fretful, frightful, fruitful, gainful, gleeful, graceful, grateful, harmful, hateful, healthful, helpful, hopeful, houseful, hurtful, sorrowful, soulful, spiteful, stifle, stressful, successful, suspenseful, tactful, tasteful, tearful, thankful, insightful, joyful, kerfuffle, lawful, lustful, masterful, meaningful, merciful, mindful, mistrustful, mournful, muffle, needful, neglectful, painful, panful, peaceful, pitiful, playful, plentiful, powerful, prayerful, purposeful, raffle, regretful, remorseful, resentful, reshuffle, resourceful, respectful, restful, riffle, rifle, rightful, rueful, ruffle, scornful, scuffle, shameful, shuffle, sinful, skillful, thoughtful, trifle, triumphal, truffle, truthful, tuneful, uneventful, unfaithful, ungrateful, unhealthful, unhelpful, unlawful, unsuccessful, untruthful, useful, vengeful, wasteful, watchful, willful, wishful, wistful, woeful, wonderful, worshipful, wrongful, youthful, zestful. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-f-l-u-w" | |
-1 letter: flaw, waul. | |
-2 letters: awl, flu, law. | |
-3 letters: al, aw, fa, la. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-f-l-u-w" | |
+1 letter: lawful, waeful. | |
+2 letters: awfully, swayful, wailful, wakeful, wameful. | |
+3 letters: awfuller, lawfully, unlawful, wamefuls, wasteful, watchful, weariful, wrackful, wrathful. | |
+4 letters: awfullest, awfulness, drawerful, rauwolfia, wailfully, wakefully. | |
+5 letters: drawerfuls, lawfulness, rauwolfias, unlawfully, wastefully, watchfully, wearifully, wrathfully. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Familiar 10. Quotations: Historic 11. Quotations: Fiction 12. Quotations: Non-fiction | 13. Quotations: Spoken 14. Quotations: Speeches 15. Usage Frequency 16. Expressions | 17. Expressions: Internet 18. Translations: Modern 19. Translations: Ancient 20. Derivations | 21. Rhymes 22. Anagrams 23. Bibliography |
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