awful

A2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈɔfəl/ UK /ˈɔː.fʊl/ See IPA manual

Freq #1345

Meanings

1

adj
Very bad or unpleasant.

The weather was awful all weekend.
2

adj
Very great in amount (informal, used for emphasis).

I have learnt an awful lot today.
3

adj
Causing fear or horror; shocking.

The war brought awful suffering to the region.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · very bad or unpleasant. terrible nasty

3 adj · causing fear or horror;... dreadful fearful horrific

Word family

Forms awfullerawfullest

Derived forms awfulizationawfulizeawfully awfulnessgod-awfulgosh-awfulgoshawfuloverawfulshitawful

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

truly awful
extremely bad or unpleasant

Adverb + adjective

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”.

*h₂egʰ- Proto-Indo-European agheful Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Register & Style

External links

# awful

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈɔfəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɔː.fʊl/
**Frequency rank:** 1345

## Meanings
1. Very bad or unpleasant.
2. Very great in amount (informal, used for emphasis).
3. Causing fear or horror; shocking.

## Examples
- The weather was awful all weekend.
- I have learnt an awful lot today.
- The war brought awful suffering to the region.

## Derived Forms
- awfulization
- awfulize
- awfully
- awfulness
- god-awful
- gosh-awful
- goshawful
- overawful
- shitawful

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *h₂egʰ-
- Root: agheful

## 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”.

## AI Etymology
Awful comes 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”.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Register & Style

markdown