Etymology

awful

aw·ful
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Today it means: Very bad. Full definition →

Middle English agheful
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awful · adjective, adverb1

  1. Middle English · inherited fromagheful
  2. English todayawful

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”.

AWFUL · noun2

Influenced by awful.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.