different between awful vs ruinous
awful
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)
- Very bad.
- My socks smell awful.
- We saw such an awful film last night that we left the theater before the end.
- Exceedingly great; usually applied intensively.
- an awful bonnet
- I have learnt an awful amount today.
- (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.
- 1839, J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Schalken the Painter
- (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) […].
- 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.143:
- (now rare) Struck or filled with awe.
- (obsolete) Terror-stricken.
- Worshipful; reverential; law-abiding.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:frightening
Derived terms
- awfulness
- awfully
Translations
Adverb
awful (not comparable)
- (colloquial) Awfully; dreadfully; terribly.
- (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.
awful From the web:
- what awful means
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- what awful weather
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ruinous
English
Etymology
From Middle English ruynous, from Old French ruinos, ruineus, from Latin ru?n?sus; surface analysis ruin +? -ous.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /??u?.?n?s/
Adjective
ruinous (comparative more ruinous, superlative most ruinous)
- Causing ruin; destructive, calamitous
- Extremely costly; so expensive as to cause financial ruin.
- They were forced to completely replace the roof at ruinous expense.
- Characterized by ruin; ruined; dilapidated; as, an edifice, bridge, or wall in a ruinous state.
Synonyms
- (characterized by ruin): See Thesaurus:ramshackle
Derived terms
- ruinously
- ruinousness
Translations
Further reading
- ruinous in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- ruinous in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- ruinous at OneLook Dictionary Search
Anagrams
- urinous
ruinous From the web:
- ruinous meaning
- ruinous what does it mean
- what is ruinous empathy
- what does ruinous effigy catalyst do
- what does ruinous effigy do
- what does ruinous empathy mean
- what is ruinous famine
- what is ruinous competition
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