Etymologically
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English

awful

History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈɔːfəl/, /ˈɔːfʊl/ (Received Pronunciation)[1]

Etymology

Formed in Middle English, c. 1300, as agheful, aueful,[2][3] from aghe, an earlier form of awe, + -ful.[2][3] It replaced Old English Old English egefull (“dreadful”).[3][2] The American Heritage Dictionary describes it as a blend of awe with a form descended from Old English egefull.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Worthy of respect or fear; striking with awe; causing dread”.[2] The OED's earliest quotations for “causing dread, terrible” date from c. 885, and for “commanding profound respect or reverential fear” from c. 1000.[5]

Semantic evolution

Awful first described what inspires awe, whether dread or reverence.[2][6] From the 1590s it could also describe the person who feels awe: “afraid” or “profoundly reverential”.[5][2] In the early 19th century it weakened into an intensifier, first “very bad” and then “very great; very”,[2][5] following the same pattern as horribly and dreadfully.[3] In the sense “inspiring awe”, awesome has largely replaced it.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – first recorded as agheful: “worthy of respect or fear; causing dread”.[2]
  • 1590s – “profoundly reverential, full of awe”.[2][5]
  • 1660 – “solemnly impressive, sublimely majestic”.[5]
  • 1809 – weakened sense “very bad, frightful”.[2][5]
  • 1818 – used as an intensive adverb, “very, extremely”.[2][6][5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Very bad or unpleasant.[4][3][1]
  2. (informal) Very great; used as an intensifier, as in an awful lot.[6][1]
  3. Inspiring awe; solemnly impressive, or dreadful.[4][6][3][1]
  4. Filled with awe, whether reverence or fear.[4][6][3]

Adverb

  1. (informal) Very, extremely.[4][6][3]

Word family

  • awfully
  • awfulness
  • god-awful

Related words

  • awe
  • awesome
  • terrific and terrible, which weakened in the same way

Usage notes

Some object to awful and awfully in senses unconnected with awe, but these senses have been used since the late 18th or early 19th century.[6][3] As an adverb, awful (awful hot) is less formal than awfully.[3]

References

  1. [1] [2] [3] [4] Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  4. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  5. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster

Last edited on 5 October 2026.