aw·ful /ˈɔfəl/
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"
synset: atrocious, abominable, awful, 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"
synset: awful, dire, direful, dread, 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
4. inspired by a feeling of fearful wonderment or reverence; "awed by the silence"; "awful worshippers with bowed heads"
5. extreme in degree or extent or amount or impact; "in a frightful hurry"; "spent a frightful amount of money"
synset: frightful, terrible, awful, tremendous
6. 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"
synset: amazing, awe-inspiring, awesome, awful, awing
1. used as intensifiers; "terribly interesting"; "I'm awful sorry"
synset: terribly, awfully, awful, frightfully
Princeton University "About WordNet." WordNet. Princeton University. 2010.
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