awful

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1. There are two main stages in the development of this word from its primary meaning (which goes back to the time of King Alfred) of 'inspiring awe'. First, from about 1800 it came to mean 'very bad' (as in awful weather, an awful time); then gradually it was reduced further in force to take on the role of a catch-all intensifier deriving its sense from the context (with positive connotations in some cases, notably an awful lot). It has also served as an adverb meaning the same as awfully, i.e. little more than 'very'

(It is an awful lovely place—Dickens, 1844)

, but this use is non-standard in current English.

2. The corresponding adverb awfully has followed the same route, and now means little more than 'very' (as in awfully kind of you). All these uses are best restricted to spoken or casual written English and should be avoided in more formal contexts.

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adjective

Very bad: appalling, dreadful, fearful, frightful, ghastly, horrendous, horrible, shocking, terrible. See good/bad.

adverb

To a high degree: awfully, dreadfully, eminently, exceedingly, exceptionally, extra, extremely, greatly, highly, most, notably, very. Chiefly Regional mighty. See big/small/amount.

adj

Definition: very bad; terrible
Antonyms: beautiful, good, ok, pleasing

IN BRIEF: Very bad.

Calvin: There's no problem so awful that you can't add some guilt to it and make it even worse! — Bill Watterson, American cartoonist, creator of Calvin and Hobbs.

Tutor's tip: "Offal" (garbage, animal entrails) is considered to be "awful" (dreadful. extremely unpleasant).

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

sign description: The middle fingers of both hands flick outward along with a facial expression of disgust.

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adverb
adverb

Very. (1818 —) .
R. D. Paine A prairie town called Follansbee that looks awful good to me (1923).

[From the adjective awful.]

Previous:	awesome, auntie, auction
Next:	axe, axeman, b

For a list of words related to awfully, see:

• Emphasizers

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See words rhyming with "awful."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Awfully.

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - frygtelig, forfærdelig, væmmelig
adv. - frygtelig, forfærdelig, væmmelig

Nederlands (Dutch)
afschuwelijk, lelijk, vreselijk slecht, indruk-/ ontzagwekkend

Français (French)
adj. - horrible, affreux, atroce, épouvantable, terrifiant, effrayant
adv. - vraiment, très, terriblement

Deutsch (German)
adj. - scheußlich, furchtbar, eindrucksvoll
adv. - furchtbar, höchst

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - απαίσιος, φρικτός

Italiano (Italian)
orribile, terribile, spaventoso

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - terrível, horrível, medonho, muito ruim (coloq.)

Русский (Russian)
ужасный

Español (Spanish)
adj. - atroz, horrible, espantoso, terrible
adv. - atrozmente, horriblemente, espantosamente

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - fruktansvärd, hemsk

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
吓人的, 可怕的, 满怀敬畏的, 使人敬畏的, 不舒服的, 非常, 很

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 嚇人的, 可怕的, 滿懷敬畏的, 使人敬畏的, 不舒服的
adv. - 非常, 很

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 두려운, 장엄한, 대단한
adv. - 몹시

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 恐ろしい, ひどい, 荘厳な
adv. - とても, ひどく

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) كريه, ممتلي رهبه, شنيع, مرعب, ضخم أو هائل‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮נורא, איום, מפחיד, גרוע, מופרז, גדול מאד‬
adv. - ‮מאוד, במידה קיצונית‬

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