awful (
http://definr.com/awful)
adj 1: 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" [syn:
atrocious,
abominable,
dreadful,
painful,
terrible,
unspeakable]
2: 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"
[syn:
dire,
direful,
dread(a),
dreaded,
dreadful,
fearful,
fearsome,
frightening,
horrendous,
horrific,
terrible]
3: 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 [syn:
nasty] [ant:
nice]
4: inspired by a feeling of fearful wonderment or reverence;
"awed by the silence"; "awful worshippers with bowed
heads" [syn:
awed]
5: 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" [syn:
amazing,
awe-inspiring,
awesome,
awing]
adv : (informal) used as intensifiers, as in "terribly
interesting"; "I'm awful sorry" [syn:
terribly,
awfully,
frightfully]