English Meaning & Definitions
Extremely bad, unpleasant, or of very poor quality.
- “The weather was absolutely awful during our entire vacation.”
- “I had an awful headache that kept me awake all night.”
Used informally to mean 'very' or 'extremely'.
- “I feel awful sorry about what happened yesterday.”
- “It's awful cold outside today.”
English Synonyms & Near Equivalents
Comprehensive Thesaurus Breakdown
Compare formal, informal, literary synonyms and register nuances for “awful”.
Derived from Middle English 'agheful' (full of awe), originally meaning 'worthy of or commanding profound respect or reverential fear.' Over time, the meaning underwent a semantic shift (pejoration), moving from 'full of awe' to 'inspiring dread' and eventually to the modern sense of 'very bad' or 'unpleasant' by the early 19th century.
Think of 'aw' as in 'aw, that's too bad'—when something is awful, you say 'aw' because it is unpleasant.
Frequently Asked Questions About “awful”
1. What is the meaning of “awful” in English?
In English, awful (adjective) is defined as: “Extremely bad, unpleasant, or of very poor quality.”.
2. How do you use “awful” in a sentence?
“The weather was absolutely awful during our entire vacation.”
3. What are English synonyms of “awful”?
4. What is the etymology and word origin of “awful”?
Derived from Middle English 'agheful' (full of awe), originally meaning 'worthy of or commanding profound respect or reverential fear.' Over time, the meaning underwent a semantic shift (pejoration), moving from 'full of awe' to 'inspiring dread' and eventually to the modern sense of 'very bad' or 'unpleasant' by the early 19th century.
🇬🇧More English Words to English
View all English words →The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), equal to the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.
A specific duration of time equal to one hour and forty-six minutes and twelve seconds.
The cardinal number equal to one thousand million (1,000,000,000), expressed in scientific notation as 10^9.
A specific duration of time equivalent to one hour and forty-six minutes.