awful

English

Alternative forms

awfull (archaic), aweful (obsolete), awefull (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English agheful, awfull, auful, aȝefull, equivalent to awe +‎ -ful. Compare Old English eġeful, eġefull (“terrifying; awful”).

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɔːfʊl/, /ˈɔːfəl/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɔfəl/
(cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈɑfəl/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ɔːfʊl
Homophone: offal (some accents)

Adjective

awful (comparative awfuller or more awful, superlative awfullest or most awful)

Very bad.
My socks smell awful.

We saw such an awful film last night that we left the theater before the end.
Exceedingly great; usually applied intensively.
an awful bonnet

I have learnt an awful amount today.
(now dated) Causing fear or horror; appalling, terrible.
- 1839, J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Schalken the Painter
  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.
(now rare) Inspiring awe; filling with profound reverence or respect; profoundly impressive.
- 1603, John Florio, transl.; Michel de Montaigne, chapter 56, in The Essayes, […], book I, printed at London: By Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:
  God ought not to be commixed in our actions, but with awful reverence, and an attention full of honour and respect.
- 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.143:
  And then she stopped, and stood as if in awe / (For sleep is awful) […].
(now rare) Struck or filled with awe.
(obsolete) Terror-stricken.
Worshipful; reverential; law-abiding.

Synonyms

See also Thesaurus:frightening

Derived terms

Translations

oppressing with fear; appalling; terrible

Armenian: please add this translation if you can
Belarusian: жахлі́вы m (žaxlívy)
Catalan: horrorós
Chinese:
Mandarin: 厉害 (zh) (lìhài), 可怕 (zh) (kěpà)
Dutch: verschrikkelijk (nl), vreselijk (nl), afgrijselijk (nl)
Esperanto: aĉa (eo)
Finnish: kauhea (fi), hirveä (fi), kamala (fi), karmea (fi), kaamea (fi), hirvittävä (fi), kauhistuttava (fi)
French: terrible (fr), épouvantable (fr), horrible (fr)
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: schrecklich (de), furchtbar (de)
Greek: απαίσιος (el) m (apaísios)
Hungarian: szörnyű (hu), rémes (hu), borzalmas (hu), borzasztó (hu), rettenetes (hu)
Interlingue: abominabil, horribil, terribil
Irish: uafásach
Italian: orribile (it)
Khmer: ឃោរ (km) (kʰoo), ភយង្ករ (km) (pʰea’yʊəŋkɑɑ)

Latin: dīrus
Lithuanian: baisus m
Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
Navajo: hóyééʼ
Norwegian: grusom, forferdelig (no)
Portuguese: horrível (pt), terrível (pt), medonho (pt), apavorante, temível
Romanian: oribil (ro), teribil (ro), atroce (ro), îngrozitor (ro)
Russian: ужа́сный (ru) (užásnyj), устраша́ющий (ru) (ustrašájuščij), ужаса́ющий (ru) (užasájuščij)
Scottish Gaelic: sgriosail
Spanish: horrible (es), terrible (es), atroz (es)
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: berbat (tr)
Vietnamese: khủng khiếp (vi)
Welsh: ofnadwy (cy), uthr

inspiring awe

Catalan: horrorós
Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Finnish: hämmästyttävä (fi)

Greek: τρομερός (el) m (tromerós)
Portuguese: temível
Romanian: înfiorător (ro) m, impresionant (ro) m
Russian: please add this translation if you can

struck or filled with awe

Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

Finnish: hämmästynyt
Russian: please add this translation if you can

terror-stricken — see terrorstricken

worshipful; reverential; law-abiding

Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

Finnish: jumalaapelkäävä (fi) (worshipful, reverential), lainkuuliainen (fi) (law-abiding)
Russian: please add this translation if you can

exceedingly great

Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Finnish: mahtava (fi)
Greek: τρομερός (el) m (tromerós), φοβερός (el) m (foverós)

Italian: impressionante (it)
Russian: please add this translation if you can

very bad

Arabic: فَظِيع‎ (faẓīʿ)
Catalan: horrorós
Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Czech: děsný, strašný (cs)
Finnish: kauhea (fi), hirveä (fi), kamala (fi), karmea (fi), kaamea (fi)

Greek: απαίσιος (el) m (apaísios), φρικτός (el) m (friktós)
Italian: pessimo (it) m, pessima (it) f, terribile (it), orribile (it)
Malay: teruk
Portuguese: horrível (pt), terrível (pt), péssimo (pt)
Russian: please add this translation if you can

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} страшен (bg) (strašen), ^{(please verify)} ужасен (bg) (užasen)
Dutch: ^{(please verify)} vreselijk (nl)
Georgian: ^{(please verify)} საშინელი (sašineli)
German: ^{(please verify)} schrecklich (de) (1), ^{(please verify)} furchtbar (de) (1), ^{(please verify)} ehrfurchtsvoll (2), ^{(please verify)} riesig (de) (6), ^{(please verify)} unglaublich (de) (6)
Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} איום‎ (he) m (ayom), ^{(please verify)} איומה‎ f (aiuma)
Japanese: ^{(please verify)} 大変な (taihen na)
Latgalian: ^{(please verify)} vuosmeigs m, ^{(please verify)} baimeigs m, ^{(please verify)} buodrys m

Latvian: ^{(please verify)} šausmīgs m
Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} forferdelig (no), ^{(please verify)} fryktelig, ^{(please verify)} grusom
Romanian: ^{(please verify)} oribil (ro), ^{(please verify)} groaznic (ro), ^{(please verify)} îngrozitor (ro), ^{(please verify)} teribil (ro)
Scots: ^{(please verify)} awfu, ^{(please verify)} bowkin
Spanish: ^{(please verify)} horrible (es), ^{(please verify)} espantoso, ^{(please verify)} terrible (es), ^{(please verify)} tremendo (es)
Swedish: ^{(please verify)} hemsk (sv)
Turkish: ^{(please verify)} iğrenç (tr)

Adverb

awful (not comparable)

(colloquial, US, Canada) Very, extremely.
That's an awful big house.

She seemed awful nice when I met her yesterday.

He was blubbering away something awful.

Translations

colloquial: very, extremely

Chinese:
Mandarin: 很 (zh) (hěn), 非常 (zh) (fēicháng)
Dutch: verschrikkelijk (nl), vreselijk (nl), ontzettend (nl), onmeunig (dialectal)
Finnish: kauhea (fi), hirveä (fi)
Greek: φοβερά (el) (foverá)

Italian: tremendamente (it), spaventosamente (it), terribilmente (it)
Russian: please add this translation if you can
Swedish: väldigt (sv)

awful

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

Translations

See also

Further reading