Definition of Awful

Adjective

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"
- awe inspiring
extreme in degree or extent or amount or impact
"in a frightful hurry"
"spent a frightful amount of money"
inspired by a feeling of fearful wonderment or reverence
"awed by the silence"
"awful worshippers with bowed heads"
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
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"
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"