awful, a.
(ˈɔːfʊl)
Forms: α. 1 eᵹefull, 3 eiful(l, eifful. β. ahefull, 4 aghful(l, 6 aufull, 7 awefull, 7–8 awfull, 7–9 aweful, 5– awful.
[f. awe n.1 + -ful, continuing the sense of OE. ęᵹefull: see awe n.1 Occas. compared awfuller, -est. With sense 4, cf. the sense-history of Gr. δεινός awful.]
I. objectively: Awe-inspiring.
1. Causing dread; terrible, dreadful, appalling.
| α c 885 K. ælfred Boeth. xviii. §2 Romane nama..wæs..maneᵹum folce swiþe eᵹefull. c 1220 Leg. St. Kath. 39 Þurh fearlac of eiful þreates. |
| β c 1230 Wohunge in Cott. Hom. 271 To fihte aȝaines alle þe ahefulle deuiles. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xxix. 90 And swore mony ane awful athe. 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. Epit. (1612) 360 They reared thence vnto the Saxons such awefull armies. 1722 De Foe Plague 64 The other scene was awful and full of terror. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. I. 85 Too evidently looking his awfullest. 1876 Green Short Hist. viii. §9 A series of awful massacres. |
2. Worthy of, or commanding, profound respect or reverential fear.
| α c 1000 ælfric Deut. x. 17 God..mihtiᵹ & eᵹefull. |
| β a 1300 Cursor M. 7869 Dauid he was an aghful man, Ful rightwisli he regnd þan. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. vi. xviii. 50 He wes in justice right lauchful And til hys legis all awful. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, v. i. 98 An awefull Princely Scepter. a 1656 Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 11 Preaching..in the most awful Auditory of the University. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 169 ¶9 Cato's character..is rather awful than amiable. 1871 Macduff Mem. Patmos xix. 264 His truth, His awful holiness. |
3. Solemnly impressive; sublimely majestic.
| 1660 Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 179/1 Dwell awful Silence on the shady Hills. 1706 Addison Rosamond iii. i, Domes in awful pomp arising. 1853 Maurice Proph. & Kings iii. 39 How awful to feel himself there..an atom amidst the infinity of nature! |
4. a. slang. Frightful, very ugly, monstrous; and
hence as a mere intensive deriving its sense from the context
= Exceedingly bad, great, long, etc.
| 1809 Fessenden Pills Polit., Poet. & Philos. 2, I fear our..nation Is in an awful situation. 1816 Pickering Vocab. 42 Awful, Disagreeable, ugly. New England. In New England many people would call a disagreeable medicine, awful; an ugly woman, an awful looking woman... This word, however, is never used except in conversation, and is far from being so common in the sea-ports now, as it was some years ago. 1818 Keats Let. 27 Apr. (1958) I. 273 It is an awful while since you have heard from me. a 1834 Lamb Gent. Giantess Misc. Wks. (1871) 363 She is indeed, as the Americans would express it, something awful. 1845 Ford Handbk. Spain i. 28 To what an awful extent the Spanish peasant..will consume garlic. 1870 M. Bridgman R. Lynne II. x. 212 He writes an awful scrawl. 1873 R. Broughton Nancy I. 26 What an awful duffer I am! Mod. What an awful time you've been! |
b. As
adv. = awfully adv. 3.
| 1818 J. Palmer Jrnl. Trav. U.S. 131 [It is] awful hot. 1832 J. Romilly Cambr. Diary 24 June (1967) 17 An awful bad sermon from Hudleston. 1848 Bartlett Dict. Amer. s.v., We not unfrequently hear such expressions as ‘an awful cold day’. 1865 Punch 11 Mar. 103/1 We sailed all about the horizon Seeing sights as was awful surprisin'. 1866 A. Trollope Belton Est. III. x. 261 It is awful lonely here, too. 1876 ‘Mark Twain’ Tom Sawyer ii. 17 You see, Aunt Polly's awful particular about this fence. 1923 R. D. Paine Comr. Rolling Ocean iii. 39 A prairie town called Follansbee that looks awful good to me. |
II. subjectively: Filled with awe.
† 5. Terror-stricken; timid, timorous, afraid.
Obs.| c 1590 Marlowe Faust. ix. 37 Monarch of hell under whose black survey Great potentates do kneel with awful fear. 1681 Manton Serm. Ps. xix. 74 Wks. 1872 VII. 280 Careful to please God, and awe-ful to offend him. a 1748 Watts (J.) A weak and awful reverence for antiquity. |
6. Profoundly respectful or reverential.
| 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, iii. iii. 76 How dare thy ioynts forget To pay their awfull dutie to our presence? 1607 Topsell Serpents 641 The whole swarm and company is kept in awful order. 1641 Stock On Malachi (1865) 56 An awful child will hardly be drawn..to do aught that his father hath..forbidden him. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. III. l. 129 At an awful distance they cast away their garments. 1846 Keble Lyra Innoc. (1873) 2 Towards the East our awful greetings Are wafted. 1879 G. Macdonald Sir Gibbie xii. 74 Gibbie sat calm, awe-ful..while the storm roared. |
III. Comb.; adverbially, as in
awful-gleaming,
awful-looking, or in parasynthetic
deriv., as
awful-eyed.
| 1647 H. More Song Soul Notes 147/2 Manly, and awfull-eyed Fortitude. 1870 Bryant Homer I. i. 12 The awful-gleaming eye. |