awful

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”

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”

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

inspired by a feeling of fearful wonderment or reverence

• “awed by the silence”
• “awful worshippers with bowed heads”

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”

used as intensifiers

• “terribly interesting”
• “I”