I. aw ‧ ful 1 S1 /ˈɔːf ə l $ ˈɒː-/ BrE AmE adjective
1 . very bad or unpleasant SYN terrible :
The weather was awful.
He is a pretty awful driver.
That fridge smells awful.
The last six months have been awful for her.
I’ve stopped believing most of what he says. Isn’t that awful?
I’m sure Suzy is dead but the awful thing is not knowing how it happened.
2 . [only before noun] spoken used to emphasize how much or how good, bad etc something is:
An awful lot of people (=a large number of people) died in the war.
He made me feel an awful fool.
3 . look/feel awful to look or feel ill:
She’s lost a lot of weight and she looks awful.
4 . literary making you feel great respect or fear
—awfulness noun [uncountable]
II. awful 2 BrE AmE adverb [+ adjective/adverb]
American English spoken very:
That kid’s awful cute, with her red curls.