— awfulness , n.
/aw"feuhl/ , adj.
1. extremely bad; unpleasant; ugly: awful paintings; an awful job.
2. inspiring fear; dreadful; terrible: an awful noise.
3. solemnly impressive; inspiring awe: the awful majesty of alpine peaks.
4. full of awe; reverential.
5. extremely dangerous, risky, injurious, etc.: That was an awful fall she had. He took an awful chance by driving here so fast.
adv.
6. Informal. very; extremely: He did an awful good job of painting the barn. It's awful hot in here.
[ 1200-50; ME a ( g ) heful, aueful; see AWE, -FUL; r. OE egefull dreadful ]
Usage . Although some object to any use of AWFUL or AWFULLY in any sense not connected with a feeling of awe, both have been used in other senses for several centuries. AWFUL and AWFULLY as adverbial intensifiers - awful ( ly ) hot ; awful ( ly ) cold - appear in the early 19th century, following much the same pattern as horribly and dreadfully . As an adverb AWFUL is less formal in tone than AWFULLY. In the sense "inspiring awe or fear" AWESOME has largely replaced AWFUL.