different between awful vs awesome

English

Alternative forms

• awfull (archaic), aweful (obsolete), awefull (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English agheful, awfull, auful, a?efull, equivalent to awe +? -ful. Compare Old English e?eful, e?efull (“terrifying; awful”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /???f?l/, /???f?l/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??f?l/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /??f?l/
• Rhymes: -??f?l
• Homophone: offal (some accents)

Adjective

awful (comparative awfuller or more awful, superlative awfullest or most awful)

1. Very bad.

   My socks smell awful.

   We saw such an awful film last night that we left the theater before the end.

2. Exceedingly great; usually applied intensively.

   an awful bonnet

   I have learnt an awful amount today.

3. (now dated) Causing fear or horror; appalling, terrible.
   • 1839, J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Schalken the Painter

     There was an air of gravity and importance about the garb of the person, and something indescribably odd, I might say awful, in the perfect, stonelike stillness of the figure, that effectually checked the testy comment which had at once risen to the lips of the irritated artist.

4. (now rare) Inspiring awe; filling with profound reverence or respect; profoundly impressive.
   • 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.143:

     And then she stopped, and stood as if in awe / (For sleep is awful) […].

5. (now rare) Struck or filled with awe.
6. (obsolete) Terror-stricken.
7. Worshipful; reverential; law-abiding.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:frightening

Derived terms

• awfulness
• awfully

Translations

Adverb

awful (not comparable)

1. (colloquial) Awfully; dreadfully; terribly.
2. (colloquial, US, Canada) Very, extremely.

   That's an awful big house.

   She seemed awful nice when I met her yesterday.

   He was blubbering away something awful.

Translations

See also

• awfully

Further reading

• awful in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• awful in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

English

Etymology

From awe +? -some; compare Old English e?eful (“fearful; inspiring awe”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???s?m/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??s.?m/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /??s.?m/

Adjective

awesome (comparative more awesome or awesomer, superlative most awesome or awesomest)

1. (dated) Causing awe or terror; inspiring wonder or excitement. [from 1590–1600.]

   Synonyms: awe-inspiring; see also Thesaurus:awesome
2. (colloquial) Excellent, exciting, remarkable.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:excellent

Usage notes

The oldest meaning of awesome is of “something which inspires awe”, but the word is now also a common slang expression. It was originally so used in the United States, where it had featured strikingly in the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!, as used by Japan's Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto to describe the "awesome" industrial potential of the United States. Consequently, as the word popularly became an expression for anything superb, in its original meaning it has tended to be replaced by the related word, awe-inspiring.

The comparative and superlative forms awesomer and awesomest are generally regarded as nonstandard.

Antonyms

• aweless

Derived terms

• awesome sauce (slang)
• awesomely
• awesomeness
• awesomenessness (nonce word, rare, nonstandard)
• awesometastic

Related terms

• awe-inspiring
• awful

Translations

Noun

awesome (uncountable)

1. (slang) Short for awesomeness: the quality, state, or essence of being awesome.

   Synonym: (slang) awesome sauce

   Antonyms: (slang) fail, (vulgar) shit, (slang) weaksauce

   • 2011, Gwen Hayes, Let Me Call You Sweetheart, Samhain Publishing, Ltd. (2011), ?ISBN, page 6:

     Plus, her patent leather boots were made of awesome. They made her legs look longer and leaner.

   • 2011, Kevin Seccia, Punching Tom Hanks: Dropkicking Gorillas and Pummeling Zombified Ex-Presidents—A Guide to Beating Up Anything, St. Martin's Press (2011), ?ISBN, page 189:

     Swayze, of course, is the being of pure awesome who has by now conquered all of Heaven.

   • 2013, Carrie Jones, Captivate, Bloomsbury (2010), ?ISBN, page 150:

     “Your grandmother,” he mumbles into my hair as we cuddle on the couch, “is made of awesome.”

Further reading

• awesome (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia