awful

comparative awfuller · comparative more awful · superlative awfullest · superlative most awful · alternative archaic awfull · alternative obsolete aweful · alternative obsolete awefull

1. Very bad.

   The smell of my socks is awful.

   1 more example

   We saw such an awful film last night that we left the theater before the end.

2. Exceedingly great; usually applied intensively.

   I have learnt an awful amount today.

   2 more examples

   Shepard: You seem to know an awful lot about me. Geth: Extranet data sources. Insecure broadcasts. All organic data sent out is received. We watch you.

   2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-2 AI Core Room

   “[…] I cook a lot. I make an awful lot of food. Jason thinks I must be cooking for an army sometimes,” she says, […]

   2010 November 14, Barry Egan, “Nadine Coyle: Insatiable of Derry”, in Life (Sunday Independent), Dublin, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 15, column 4

3. datedCausing fear or horror; appalling, terrible.

   At our old pastimes in the hall ⁠We gambol’d, making vain pretence ⁠Of gladness, with an awful sense Of one mute Shadow watching all.

   1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXX”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 48

   1 more example

   There was an air of gravity and importance about the garb of the person, and something indescribably odd, I might say awful, in the perfect, stonelike stillness of the figure, that effectually checked the testy comment which had at once risen to the lips of the irritated artist.

   1839, J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Schalken the Painter

4. archaicAwe-inspiring; filling with profound reverence or respect; profoundly impressive.

   As I am seen could I but gaze on Thee / Awful in majesty and royal might

   1889, Harriet McEwen Kimball, Poems, "Omniscience"

   3 more examples

   God ought not to be commixed in our actions, but with awful reverence, and an attention full of honour and respect.

   1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 56, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC

   And then she stopped, and stood as if in awe / (For sleep is awful)[…].

   1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.143

   If the keepers of the sacred corral discovered paternity in their stock breeding, then that knowledge would have been seen as numinous, awe-ful, and unconsciously unsettling.

   1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 124

   Synonyms: awesome

5. archaicStruck or filled with awe or reverence.

   She spoke about Mr. Pendennis (a worthy little gentleman enough, but there are others as good as he) with an awful reverence, as if he had been the Pope of Rome on his throne, and she a cardinal kneeling at his feet, and giving him incense.

   1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 2, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC

6. obsoleteTerror-stricken.
7. IrelandespeciallyProne to a particular temptation.

   "It's her imagination, that's what it is," Millie said. "She's awful for imagining things, Wilfred agreed with me."

   1945, James Hanley, Crilley, and Other Stories

   1 more example

   Tommy was just an awful man for the paper - couldn't get enough of the stuff! He'd have had the very Yellow Pages down him!

   2022, Lisa McGee, Derry Girls, season 3, episode 7

   Synonyms: terrible

alternative archaic awfull · alternative obsolete aweful · alternative obsolete awefull

1. colloquialnot comparableAwfully; dreadfully; terribly.

   The race was run, and the dog ran "awful".

   1933 January 21, The Sydney Sportsman, NSW, page 1

2. CanadaUScolloquialnot comparableVery, extremely.

   That's an awful big house.

   3 more examples

   She seemed awful nice when I met her yesterday.

   He was blubbering away something awful.

   “They say the Battery's awful bad,” and he hummed dolorously[.]

   1889, Rudyard Kipling, “Only A Subaltern”, in Under the Deodars, Boston: The Greenock Press, published 1899, page 144

plural AWFULs

1. USabbreviationacronymderogatorygovernmentAcronym of affluent white female urban liberal/leftist.

   She's AWFUL... Affluent White Female Urban Liberal.

   2024 April 17, @bayareahausfrau, X (post)

   2 more examples

   The conservative radio host Erick Erickson described her [Renee Good] as an “AWFUL,” or “Affluent White Female Urban Liberal.”

   [2026 January 8, Michelle Goldberg, quoting Erick Erickson, “By Killing Renee Good, ICE Sent a Message to Us All”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 08 Jan 2026

   Well, on January 7th, 2026 at 2:22 PM during the commercial break of this program, I tweeted, “An AWFUL,” in parentheses, “(affluent white female urban liberal) is dead after running her car into an ICE agent who opened fire on her. Progressive whites are turning violent. ICE agents have the right to defend themselves.”

   2026 January 19, “Hour 2 – The AWFLs” (6:04 from the start), in The Erick Erickson Show, spoken by Erick Erickson

   Synonyms: AWFL