browse words by letter
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
v
w
x
y
z
more about awful
awful |
2 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Awful \Aw"ful\, a. 1. Oppressing with fear or horror; appalling; terrible; as an awful scene. ``The hour of Nature's awful throes.'' --Hemans. 2. Inspiring awe; filling with profound reverence, or with fear and admiration; fitted to inspire reverential fear; profoundly impressive. Heaven's awful Monarch. --Milton. 3. Struck or filled with awe; terror-stricken. [Obs.] A weak and awful reverence for antiquity. --I. Watts. 4. Worshipful; reverential; law-abiding. [Obs.] Thrust from the company of awful men. --Shak. 5. Frightful; exceedingly bad great; -- applied intensively; as an awful bonnet; an awful boaster. [Slang] Syn: See {Frightful}. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: awful adj 1: exceptionally bad or displeasing; "atrocious taste"; "abominable workmanship"; "an awful voice"; "dreadful manners"; "a painful performance"; "terrible handwriting"; "an unspeakable odor came sweeping into the room" [syn: {atrocious}, {abominable}, {dreadful}, {painful}, {terrible}, {unspeakable}] 2: causing fear or dread or terror; "the awful war"; "an awful risk"; "dire news"; "a career or vengeance so direful that London was shocked"; "the dread presence of the headmaster"; "polio is no longer the dreaded disease it once was"; "a dreadful storm"; "a fearful howling"; "horrendous explosions shook the city"; "a terrible curse" [syn: {dire}, {direful}, {dread(a)}, {dreaded}, {dreadful}, {fearful}, {fearsome}, {frightening}, {horrendous}, {horrific}, {terrible}] 3: offensive or even (of persons) malicious; "in a nasty mood"; "a nasty accident"; "a nasty shock"; "a nasty smell"; "a nasty trick to pull"; "Will he say nasty things at my funeral?"- Ezra Pound [syn: {nasty}] [ant: {nice}] 4: inspired by a feeling of fearful wonderment or reverence; "awed by the silence"; "awful worshippers with bowed heads" [syn: {awed}] 5: inspiring awe or admiration or wonder; "New York is an amazing city"; "the Grand Canyon is an awe-inspiring sight"; "the awesome complexity of the universe"; "this sea, whose gently awful stirrings seem to speak of some hidden soul beneath"- Melville; "Westminster Hall's awing majesty, so vast, so high, so silent" [syn: {amazing}, {awe-inspiring}, {awesome}, {awing}] adv : (informal) used as intensifiers, as in "terribly interesting"; "I'm awful sorry" [syn: {terribly}, {awfully}, {frightfully}]
more about awful
This work is licensed under a
