awful

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[ US /ˈɑfəɫ, ˈɔfəɫ/ ]
[ UK /ˈɔːfə‍l/ ]

ADJECTIVE

extreme in degree or extent or amount or impact
spent a frightful amount of money
in a frightful hurry
inspired by a feeling of fearful wonderment or reverence
awful worshippers with bowed heads
awed by the silence
exceptionally bad or displeasing
abominable workmanship
a painful performance
an unspeakable odor came sweeping into the room
terrible handwriting
dreadful manners
an awful voice
atrocious taste
causing fear or dread or terror
the awful war
a fearful howling
the dread presence of the headmaster
dire news
a terrible curse
an awful risk
a career or vengeance so direful that London was shocked
horrendous explosions shook the city
a dreadful storm
polio is no longer the dreaded disease it once was
inspiring awe or admiration or wonder
the Grand Canyon is an awe-inspiring sight
the awesome complexity of the universe
New York is an amazing city
this sea, whose gently awful stirrings seem to speak of some hidden soul beneath
Westminster Hall's awing majesty, so vast, so high, so silent
offensive or even (of persons) malicious
in a nasty mood
a nasty trick to pull
a nasty shock
Will he say nasty things at my funeral?
a nasty smell
a nasty accident

ADVERB

Top Definitions Examples

How To Use awful In A Sentence

This patronising voice with a whine and an awful regional accent was talking. Times, Sunday Times
by lawful/legal means. Lawful tends to be used in technical or literary contexts. The same is true of the opposites, unlawful and illegal, but illegal is used especially about criminal activities. Legal also means 'connected with the law':the US legal system.
It seems the awful practice of hazing is not just limited to college sororities and fraternities.
The Latin American brotherhood was a pretty awful in general, coming out of some deranged ideas of Simon Bolivar, and it was an extraordinarily awful thing during the Cold War. Matthew Yglesias » Carter on Gaza
The police had a good defence to the claims in false imprisonment and unlawful detention. Times, Sunday Times
‘You took a pre-meditated, calculated and awful revenge,’ the judge told him.
The convention allows for lawful detention of children for the shortest possible period of time and as a matter of last resort.
I thought my deathly pale face made me look awful. The Sun
The thing the article doesn't mention in much detail, presumably because the writer isn't diabetic, is how awful hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) feels. SeeLight:
The whole downstairs of the house smelled something awful for two weeks.

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