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