HOW TO PRONOUNCE
awful
/ˈɑfəl/
Press play to hear how to pronounce awful.
American Pronunciation Guide · 0:47
Watch on YouTube ↗
Watch on YouTube ↗
What does awful mean?
adjective
- Very bad.
- Exceedingly great; usually applied intensively.
- Prone to a particular temptation.
More meanings (7)
adverb
- Awfully; dreadfully; terribly.
- Very, extremely.
adjective
- (dated) Causing fear or horror; appalling, terrible.
- (archaic) Awe-inspiring; filling with profound reverence or respect; profoundly impressive.
- (archaic) Struck or filled with awe or reverence.
- (obsolete) Terror-stricken.
noun
- (derogatory) Acronym of affluent white female urban liberal.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ˈɑfəl/
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
The boy laughed too and said something which I could not catch for the whistling of the wind of our awful speed.
The stranger’s first feeling, when suddenly confronted by that towering and awful apparition wrapped in its shroud of snow, is breath-taking astonishment.
More book examples (3)
Know then that some of us are gentlemen, Such as the fury of ungoverned youth Thrust from the company of awful men.
Anyway, I suddenly saw with awful distinctness that if I kept on I'd be in a few years where Helen Brooks is.
When such quarrels as these were looked upon as mere matters of course, the state of society must have been indeed awful.