Definition of "awful" []

• Extremely bad or unpleasant; terrible: had an awful day at the office. (adjective)
• Commanding awe: "this sea, whose gently awful stirrings seem to speak of some hidden soul beneath” ( Herman Melville). (adjective)
• Filled with awe, especially: (adjective)
• Filled with or displaying great reverence. (adjective)
• Obsolete Afraid. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• ""It is an awful, _awful_ thing that the boys of Polktown can even get hold of such stuff to make them so ill.""
• ""Yer takin 'awful chances, miss -- just _awful_," warned the neighbor, edging backward toward her house with the air of having completed her duty."
• "“Oh, Jack, you awful, _awful_ liar, what shall I say to you?”"