awfulaw‧ful1 /ˈɔːfəl $ ˈɒː-/ ●●● S1 adjective 
The weather was awful. He is a pretty awful driver. That fridge smells awful. The last six months have been awful for her. I’ve stopped believing most of what he says. Isn’t that awful? I’m sure Suzy is dead but the awful thing is not knowing how it happened.► see thesaurus at bad, horrible2[only before noun] spoken used to emphasize how much or how good, bad etc something is: An awful lot of people (=a large number of people) died in the war. He made me feel an awful fool.3look/feel awful to look or feel ill: She’s lost a lot of weight and she looks awful.4literary making you feel great respect or fear—awfulness noun [uncountable]GRAMMARAwful is not used with ‘very’. You say: · It was a really awful experience. ✗Don’t say: It was a very awful experience.Grammar guide ‒ ADJECTIVES
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- a really awful concert
- an awful power
- I felt awful about not being able to help.
- It sounds awful, but I just can't stand his parents.
- The soup tasted awful.
- At 300dpi the quality achieved with photographs can generally be described as poor to awful.
- But those are still awful numbers.
- He truly represents an awful lot from a developmental standpoint.
- My father and Ernest were safe, but the awful news of Elizabeth's death killed my father.
- Philip Seymour Hoffman blows them all away with a scene-stealing black comic turn as Dickie's awful preppie buddy.
- The curtains in the photo are an awful fifties maroon, the color of dried blood.
- Then as the electric doors swished open and three police officers jumped out on to the ballast, the awful realisation dawned.
- You seem to take up an awful lot of energy and time.
THESAURUSvery bad
especially British English very bad: · The movie was awful.· Her house is in a terrible state.· a dreadful crime
very bad, especially in a way that shocks or upsets you: · He describes prison as ‘a horrible place’.· It was a horrible experience.
smelling or tasting very bad: · The food was disgusting.· The fish smelled disgusting.
informal very bad or disappointing: · The weather has been lousy all week.· I’m fed up with this lousy job.
British English informal very bad: · I’ve had a ghastly day.· a ghastly mistake
severe problems, injuries, illnesses etc are very bad and serious: · The country faces severe economic problems.· severe delays· He suffered severe head injuries in a car crash.
extremely bad in a way that is shocking: · Her behaviour has been absolutely atrocious.· The country has an appalling human rights record.
very bad and of a very low standard: · The team’s performance was abysmal.· the abysmal conditions in some prisons
experience, situation, event very bad and unpleasant: · For one horrible moment, I thought I was going to fall.· The refugees were living in dreadful conditions.· It must have been a terrible worry for them.· Thousands of people lost their jobs – it was awful.
very unpleasant and shocking – used especially about events where people are hurt: · There’s been a nasty accident on the motorway.· a nasty cut· The news came as a nasty shock.
(also dreadful especially British English) very bad: · The journey was terrible – it took six hours.· The food was good but we had terrible service.· It’s such an awful programme! How can you watch it?· He looked dreadful.
very bad and unpleasant – used especially when something has a strong effect on you and you feel shocked, annoyed, or sick: · This soup tastes horrible.· I got a horrible shock when I saw the bill.· a horrible accident· a horrible thing to say to someone
terrible – especially in a way that is shocking. Appalling is stronger and a little more formal than terrible or horrible: · The refugees are living in appalling conditions.· The teacher said my handwriting was appalling.
terrible – used about a taste, smell, habit etc, often one that makes you feel sick: · The smell was disgusting and I had to go out.· Do you have to bite your nails? It’s a disgusting habit.
informal terrible – used especially to express annoyance: · I’ve had a lousy day at the office.· This area is a lousy place to live.
very bad and difficult – used when there is no chance of success or improvement: · We were trying to pay off our debts but it was a hopeless situation.· He was given the almost hopeless task of trying to negotiate a ceasefire.
British English extremely bad – used to express great disapproval of an action or event: · The prices are diabolical.· a diabolical waste of money· McAndrew gave a diabolical performance on Saturday.
Longman Language Activatorvery bad at doing something also useless British very bad at doing something, or doing something very badly: · Poor Daniel. He loves football but he's a terrible player.· She'll never pass the exam -- she's an awful student.· Make sure you bring a map -- Erin has a hopeless sense of direction.terrible/awful/hopeless at: · My brother's a computer genius but he's useless at everything else.terrible/awful/hopeless at doing something: · The manager made John a barman as he was obviously hopeless at waiting on tables.
especially spoken very bad at doing something: · I'm such a lousy cook that I usually eat out.lousy at: · I was lousy at biology in school.
use this about someone who is so bad at doing something that you have no respect for them: · She's clever, but as a teacher she's pathetic.· I can't believe we wasted our money on that pathetic comedian last night.
use this about someone who cannot do their job at all and should not be doing it: · This government is totally incompetent.· Legislators are planning a new bill that will protect patients from incompetent doctors.
informal to be very bad at something even though you would like to be able to do it properly: can't draw/paint/cook/act etc to save your life: · Adrian can't draw to save his life.· You don't expect me to take part in the play, do you? I can't act to save my life.· The truth is I couldn't write poetry to save my life.
bad weather when it is raining, snowing, or very cold: · The game was cancelled because of bad weather.a spell/run of bad weather: · Once this spell of bad weather is over, we can start work on the garden.in bad weather: · At least 20 people died when the aircraft crashed in bad weather.
especially spoken very unpleasant, cold, wet etc: · Awful weather, isn't it?· "What's it like outside?" "Terrible."it is awful/terrible/horrible: · It's been absolutely horrible all day.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY I’m sure Suzy is dead but the awful thing is not knowing how it happened. An awful lot of people (=a large number of people) died in the war.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES The dogs next door are a real nuisance.
I’m sure Suzy is dead but the awful thing is not knowing how it happened. An awful lot of people (=a large number of people) died in the war.· The news was a terrible blow for his family.
· Why do doctors have such terrible handwriting?
also a whole lot informal (=a very large amount or number) He spends an awful lot of time on the computer.
He spends an awful lot of time on the computer. The dogs next door are a real nuisance.· I woke up with a terrible pain in my side.
· Caesar returned to Rome to exact a terrible revenge.
· Her death was a terrible shock to everyone.
· Cigarettes make your clothes smell awful.
· Suddenly I had a nasty suspicion that the boss was going to make me redundant.
· The tea tasted horrible.
(=very unpleasant and shocking)· This is an appalling tragedy which will haunt us for the rest of our lives.
· She could not bring herself to tell them the awful truth.
· We came home early because of the awful weather.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· Barbaric, we might exclaim, how awful!· You have to have been there before to remember how awful it was.· And how awful to imagine people of their age doing that.· Oh, Alice. How awful you really are.· For some reason she remembered how awful it was when she first moved in after their marriage.· They may not even realize how awful they make you and your sisters feel.· We'd been saying how awful it was, how sorry we were for Connie.· Your ride to Lincoln will probably illustrate how awful long-distance cycling in Britain can be, and how few facilities are provided.
· It is awful, just awful.· The hotel that we stayed in was just awful, and the food provided was worse.
· And, most awful of all, was Amy a murderess?· The most awful thing has happened.· It was the most awful moment of his life and he didn't know how to handle it.· They were Elephant Feet, the most dreaded, the most awful things in the world.· There'd be the most awful dust-up.· The world's most awful human problem, third-world poverty, appears to have hardened the hearts of the prosperous.· I had the most awful time with him.· She's the most awful snob.
· Collectively politicians tend to be pretty awful.· I should have said no, because he looked pretty awful on the road.· The state of the camps, particularly for transit prisoners, is pretty awful.· In the intense glare of the television lights, they looked pretty awful.
· It's a really awful night, blowing heavens hard.· It was really awful, travelling back to Leeds and finding your life cave in on you in a week.
· Luckily the weather was so awful that nothing was flying, so there was only routine work to attend to.· Marguerite believed it was not so awful, missing a day now and then.· What's so awful about this situation is that we can't have a funeral.· Too many of the conjunctions and alignments here are so awful that one hopes they are very temporary indeed.· There are many great offensive players in the game right now, maybe because the pitching is so awful.· If Hell consists of such illusions, is it so awful?· Why was fate so awful to Kiki?
· This idea was too awful to contemplate.· But confession was too awful to contemplate, even with Rose.· This school is too awful to deserve passive acceptance.· The worst injury it too awful to show.· The implications were too awful to contemplate.· People would not stay married if it were too awful.· Spell after spell crashed down on the Dark Elves, the carnage was too awful to contemplate.· In any case, it would be too awful having to explain why she needed it.
NOUN· But Joan was harking back to that awful day.· They waited at the North Col for three awful days, watching the deserted ridge for any signs of life.· It's been the most awful day of my life.· Wasn't that just the typical end to a perfectly awful day?
· I've an awful feeling we should have gone right at the last junction.· This play, and all these awful feelings, would be safely locked up.· I've got an awful feeling this deadness will creep up and up and kill me - like Socrates.· She sat down again, and the awful feeling about the Lumsdens came back to her.· It hurt very, very badly, but what hurt most was the awful feeling of having let herself down.
· It must save an awful lot of embarrassment.· You can say an awful lot in seven seconds, and you can say very little in an hour and a half.· He is the embodiment of a restaurateur's nightmare, some one who behaves grotesquely yet spends an awful lot of money.· What an awful lot & and the joke is what a long way to go to a concert.· I seem to have collected an awful lot of those parking-tokens over the last few months.· An awful lot of his 8 million customers are angry.· You talk an awful lot of wind.· If you didn't, you were bawled out, and that took an awful lot of getting used to.
· For one awful moment she had thought he was gone, but those signs of activity proved otherwise.· All night I anticipated the awful moment when the cabins and the cockpit basket would break adrift.· It was the most awful moment of his life and he didn't know how to handle it.· For an awful moment, she thought that Jamie had found out something about her real connection with Puddephat.
· She had to work in that awful place and get nits and steal and be beaten for wetting the bed.· Research universities are awful places for freshmen to be adrift, to be searching, to be in need.· The house was an awful place, Carolyn thought.· I bought this bloody awful place.· Dear brother, let me out of this awful place and the blessed Virgin will reward you.
· He told me he was called Willie, but I though that was a jolly awful thing to do to anyone.· You have no idea of what awful things have happened here.· The most awful thing has happened.· The awful thing was that it wasn't over, Jean knew that.· If I pulled one book out, lord knows what awful thing might result.· The awful thing was that, as I said it, I began to have serious doubts about it.· And the truly awful thing was, Alistair was right.
· You have no idea of what awful things have happened here.· They were Elephant Feet, the most dreaded, the most awful things in the world.· I also had dreadful nightmares - of awful things like giving birth to a cat because they can be carriers of toxoplasmosis.· My father asked me why I said these awful things.· He was calling me all the time - awful things.
· Well now the awful truth can be revealed, other people's work is not perfect.· People crowded around, and the awful truth came out: the barrel wasn't as full as it should have been.· Then she remembered Edward's march and the awful truth began to dawn.· They believed in the myth and Diana could not bring herself to tell them the awful truth.· Gedanken's tummy turned over as the awful truth dawned on her.· They drank coffee, Jay's brain slurring off some awful truth.· Shannon lay back against the pillows, squeezing her eyes tight shut, as though that could block out the awful truth.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY
1very bad or unpleasant SYN terrible: - You look awful - what's wrong?
- Every time we lose, I just feel awful inside.
- For all her cheerfulness it was painfully obvious that she was feeling awful.
- He took it away and tried to look normal but he felt awful.
- I felt awful, ill, all beaten up.
- In fact she felt awful, nauseous and light-headed and clammy.
- Oh, and did we mention the damn stuff looked awful, stunk and tasted lousy?
- The next morning I felt awful.
- Tom felt quite confident of his safety, but physically he felt awful.
The weather was awful. He is a pretty awful driver. That fridge smells awful. The last six months have been awful for her. I’ve stopped believing most of what he says. Isn’t that awful? I’m sure Suzy is dead but the awful thing is not knowing how it happened.► see thesaurus at bad, horrible2[only before noun] spoken used to emphasize how much or how good, bad etc something is: An awful lot of people (=a large number of people) died in the war. He made me feel an awful fool.3look/feel awful to look or feel ill: She’s lost a lot of weight and she looks awful.4literary making you feel great respect or fear—awfulness noun [uncountable]GRAMMARAwful is not used with ‘very’. You say: · It was a really awful experience. ✗Don’t say: It was a very awful experience.Grammar guide ‒ ADJECTIVES