awful

英 ['ɔːfʊl] 美['ɔfl]

adj. 可怕的；极坏的；使人敬畏的

近义词 savage wicked brutal ruthless dreadful appalling wretched terrible unpleasant cruel horrible atrocious

CET6 考研 IELTS TEM4 CET4 核心词汇中频词

英英释义

1. exceptionally bad or displeasing;: "atrocious taste"; "abominable workmanship"; "an awful voice"; "dreadful manners"; "a painful performance"; "terrible handwriting"; "an unspeakable odor came sweeping into the room"

2. causing fear or dread or terror;: "the awful war"; "an awful risk"; "dire news"; "a career or vengeance so direful that London was shocked"; "the dread presence of the headmaster"; "polio is no longer the dreaded disease it once was"; "a dreadful storm"; "a fearful howling"; "horrendous explosions shook the city"; "a terrible curse"

3. offensive or even (of persons) malicious;: "in a nasty mood"; "a nasty accident"; "a nasty shock"; "a nasty smell"; "a nasty trick to pull"; "Will he say nasty things at my funeral?"- Ezra Pound

4. inspired by a feeling of fearful wonderment or reverence;: "awed by the silence"; "awful worshippers with bowed heads"

5. inspiring awe or admiration or wonder;: "New York is an amazing city"; "the Grand Canyon is an awe-inspiring sight"; "the awesome complexity of the universe"; "this sea, whose gently awful stirrings seem to speak of some hidden soul beneath"- Melville; "Westminster Hall's awing majesty, so vast, so high, so silent"

同义词辨析

afraid, fearful, awful, dreadful, frightful, terrible, horrible, terrific, appalling

这些形容词均含"害怕的，怕的"之意。

afraid：指由于胆小或怯懦而不敢说或做某事。

fearful：普通用词，既指外界情况变化而引起的恐惧，又指来自内心的害怕与焦虑。

awful：指威严得令人害怕或敬畏，有一定的感情色彩。

dreadful：指使人非常恐惧，毛骨悚然，也使人感到讨厌而退缩。

frightful：指使人陷入短暂的惊恐或产生毛骨悚然的感觉。

terrible：侧重指给人以长久的惊骇，极端的恐怖，令人难以忍受。

horrible：指因骇人听闻的丑恶而令人毛骨悚然，着重厌恶的成分多于害怕。

terrific：多指外表、形状或力量等的可怕。

appalling：指既令害怕又使人惊异、胆寒。

词组搭配

an awful lot

a very large amount; a great deal

很多；非常多

we've had an awful lot of letters.
我们有很多信。
you've still got an awful lot to learn.
你还有很多东西要学。

考试真题

Not only is this a boring and awful way to treat children, it makes no sense educationally.

Before you brush this argument aside as rubbish, or think of joy as an unaffordable luxury in a nation where there is awful poverty, low academic achievement, and high dropout rates, think again.

Don't you think it's an awful waste of time?

I feel awful whenever I make a mistake in whatever I'm trying to do.

Southern states without strong teachers' unions have schools at least as awful as those in union states.

After realising an email accident, you are likely to feel awful.

The problem with being a grown up is that there's an awful lot of serious stuff to deal with - work, mortgage payments, figuring out what to cook for dinner.

实用场景例句

Clint is awful smart.: 克林特机灵极了。

the awful horrors of war: 骇人听闻的战争恐怖

[不可数名词]the sheer awfulness of the situation: 糟透了的情况

There's an awful smell in here.: 这里有股很难闻的味道。

The awful thing is, it was my fault.: 糟糕的是，这是我的过失。

It's going to cost an awful lot of money.: 这要花非常多的钱。

There's not an awful lot of room.: 没有很多的空间。

I feel an awful lot better than I did yesterday.: 我觉得身体比昨天好得多了。

(British English)I had an awful job persuading him to come (= it was very difficult) .: 说服他来真是费劲死了。

to look/feel awful (= to look/feel ill): 面带病容；感到很不舒服

I feel awful about forgetting her birthday.: 我忘了她的生日，感到很难过。

The weather last summer was awful.: 去年夏季天气真坏。

That's an awful colour.: 那颜色难看得很。

‘They didn't even offer to pay. ’ ‘Oh that's awful. ’: “他们甚至不主动付钱。”“哦，这真不像话。”

It's awful, isn't it?: 糟糕透了，不是吗？

I've got an awful lot of work to do.: 我有一大堆事情要做。

Gosh, you're awful pretty...: 天哪，你太漂亮了！

You know, 10 years sounds like an awful long time.: 你知道，10年听起来遥遥无期。

I looked awful and felt quite shaky.: 我貌似生病了，觉得很虚弱。

I hardly slept at all and felt pretty awful...: 我基本上没睡，觉得很难受。

We met and I thought he was awful...: 我们见了面，我觉得他很讨人厌。

I couldn't stand London! Bloody awful place.: 我在伦敦再也呆不下去了！简直是个糟糕至极的地方。

Her injuries were massive. It was awful...: 她遍体鳞伤。太可怕了。

Some of their offences are so awful they would chill the blood.: 他们的一些罪行骇人听闻，简直令人毛骨悚然。

中文词源

awful 极讨厌的

来自PIE *agh, 害怕。

双语例句

1. I don't know how often I heard the same awful jokes.: 这种千篇一律的烂笑话我不知道听过多少回了。

2. I've got an awful lot of work to do.: 我有一大堆事情要做。

3. The helicopter turned at an awful angle before righting itself.: 直升机在恢复平稳之前倾斜得很厉害。

4. Between you and me, though, it's been awful for business.: 不过你我之间说说，这事儿办得真不怎么样。

5. These guys talk an awful load of old cobblers.: 这些人纯粹是胡说八道。

英文词源

awful (adj.): c. 1300, agheful "worthy of respect or fear," from aghe, an earlier form of awe (n.), + -ful. The Old English word was egefull. Weakened sense "very bad" is from 1809; weakened sense of "exceedingly" is by 1818.

词态变化

名词: awfulness;