awful
Very bad.
Adjective 4 meanings
Very bad.
“The smell of my socks is awful.”
Exceedingly great; usually applied intensively.
“I have learnt an awful amount today.”
Causing fear or horror; appalling, terrible.
Prone to a particular temptation.
Adverb 2 meanings
Awfully; dreadfully; terribly.
Very, extremely.
“That's an awful big house.”
Etymology
From Middle English agheful, awfull, auful, aȝefull, equivalent to awe + -ful. Compare Old English eġeful, eġefull (“terrifying; awful”). The “very bad” sense is a pejorative semantic shift from the original sense of “awe-inspiring”.
Similar and opposite words
AWFUL at a glance
AWFUL has 5 letters and scores 11 points in Scrabble (A 1 + W 4 + F 4 + U 1 + L 1) and 13 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #3,144 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with awful
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