Aw"ful (?), a.

1.

Oppressing with fear or horror; appalling; terrible; as, an awful scene.

"The hour of Nature's awful throes."

Hemans.

2.

Inspiring awe; filling with profound reverence, or with fear and admiration; fitted to inspire reverential fear; profoundly impressive.

Heaven's awful Monarch. Milton.

3.

Struck or filled with awe; terror-stricken.

[Obs.]

A weak and awful reverence for antiquity. I. Watts.

4.

Worshipful; reverential; law-abiding.

[Obs.]

Thrust from the company of awful men. Shak.

5.

Frightful; exceedingly bad; great; -- applied intensively; as, an awful bonnet; an awful boaster.

[Slang]

Syn. -- See Frightful.

 

© Webster 1913.

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.