awesome

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈɔ.səm/ UK /ˈɔː.səm/ See IPA manual

Freq #1176

Meanings

1

adj
Extremely good or impressive (informal).

That concert was absolutely awesome!
2

adj
So impressive or powerful that it fills you with wonder.

The waterfall was an awesome sight.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · extremely good or... amazing admirable

2 adj · so impressive or powerful... awe-inspiring

More astoundingawesomesauceawful based beatific bewildering blissful celestial cool delightful

Opposites

horrible horrific mediocre terrible

Word family

Derived forms awesomazingawesomelyawesomenessawesomenessnessawesomeosityawesometasticawesomitudegnarlsomeunawesome

Related forms awe-inspiringawful surprising

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

awesome complexity
an intricacy so great that it inspires wonder or awe

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From awe + -some; compare earlier awful and Middle English eiful (“inducing fright or terror, terrible”), from Old English eġeful (“fearful; inspiring awe”). The oldest meaning of awesome is of “something which inspires awe”, but the word is now also a common colloquial expression. It was originally so used in the United States, where it had featured strikingly in the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!, as used by Japan's Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto to describe the "awesome" industrial potential of the United States. Consequently, as the word popularly became an expression for anything superb, in its or…

*h₂egʰ- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Register & Style

External links

# awesome

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈɔ.səm/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɔː.səm/
**Frequency rank:** 1176

## Meanings
1. Extremely good or impressive (informal).
2. So impressive or powerful that it fills you with wonder.

## Examples
- That concert was absolutely awesome!
- The waterfall was an awesome sight.

## Synonyms
- amazing
- astounding
- awe-inspiring
- awesomesauce
- awful
- based
- beatific
- bewildering
- blissful
- celestial
- cool
- delightful

## Antonyms
- horrible
- horrific
- mediocre
- terrible

## Derived Forms
- awesomazing
- awesomely
- awesomeness
- awesomenessness
- awesomeosity
- awesometastic
- awesomitude
- gnarlsome
- unawesome

## Related Forms
- awe-inspiring
- awful
- surprising

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *h₂egʰ-
- Affix: -some - tending to

## Etymology
From awe + -some; compare earlier awful and Middle English eiful (“inducing fright or terror, terrible”), from Old English eġeful (“fearful; inspiring awe”). The oldest meaning of awesome is of “something which inspires awe”, but the word is now also a common colloquial expression. It was originally so used in the United States, where it had featured strikingly in the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!, as used by Japan's Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto to describe the "awesome" industrial potential of the United States. Consequently, as the word popularly became an expression for anything superb, in its or…

## AI Etymology
Awesome comes from awe + -some; compare earlier awful and Middle English eiful (“inducing fright or terror, terrible”), from Old English eġeful (“fearful; inspiring awe”). The oldest meaning of awesome is of “something which inspires awe”, but the word is now also a common colloquial expression. It was originally so used in the United States, where it had featured strikingly in the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!, as used by Japan's Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto to describe the "awesome" industrial potential of the United States.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Register & Style

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