AWFUL • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Awful

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/ˈɑfəl/ /ˈɔfəl/ Listen

adjective

Awful adj.

Oppressing with fear or horror; appalling; terrible; as, an awful scene. "The hour of Nature's awful throes."

Inspiring awe; filling with profound reverence, or with fear and admiration; fitted to inspire reverential fear; profoundly impressive. "Heaven's awful Monarch."

Struck or filled with awe; terror-stricken. (Obs.) "A weak and awful reverence for antiquity."

Worshipful; reverential; law-abiding. (Obs.) "Thrust from the company of awful men."

Frightful; exceedingly bad; great; applied intensively; as, an awful bonnet; an awful boaster. (Slang)

Synonyms: See Frightful.

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Etymology of 'Awful'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Awful" Quotes from Famous Books

... it," she ordered, handing him the bacon. Then, with a shudder, she added: "Must have been rather awful down there." ...

— The Highgrader • William MacLeod Raine

... simply awful, old chap," pursued Jack cheerily. "Where on earth have you been for the last month? I wrote to York and got ...

— None Other Gods • Robert Hugh Benson

... slaves? The truth was, we stopped the natural progress of civilization in Africa. We cut her off from the opportunity of improvement. We kept her down in a state of darkness, bondage, ignorance, and bloodshed. Was not this an awful consideration for this country? Look at the map of Africa, and see how little useful intercourse had been established on that vast continent! While other countries were assisting and enlightening each ...

— The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the - Abolition of the African Slave-Trade, by the British Parliament (1839) • Thomas Clarkson

... moment she felt quite incapable of speaking intelligibly. Her mental vision conjured up a picture of her child in some terrible danger, and, in her anxiety, her mind refused to take in more than that one awful fact, overlooking for the time the circumstance of Bob having received an injury. The danger to which May had been exposed; that was all she thought about—all she could think about just then; and, until ...

— The Pirate Island - A Story of the South Pacific • Harry Collingwood

... followed by the cataract-like roar, and the high, thin seas, wheeling away beautifully crested with sparkling foam. If it is possible, imagine the effect upon the beholder: this precipice of ice, with tremendous cracking, is falling toward us with a majestic and awful motion. ...

— McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader • William Holmes McGuffey

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