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Awful vs Serious - What's the difference?

awful | serious |

As adjectives the difference between awful and serious

is that awful is oppressing with fear or horror; appalling, terrible while serious is without humor or expression of happiness; grave in manner or disposition; earnest; thoughtful; solemn.

As an adverb awful

is (colloquial) very, extremely; as, an awful big house.

awful

English

Alternative forms

* awfull (archaic)

Adjective

(en-adj)
  • Oppressing with fear or horror; appalling, terrible.
  • Inspiring awe; filling with profound reverence or respect; profoundly impressive.
  • *, I.56:
    • God ought not to be commixed in our actions, but with awful reverence, and an attention full of honour and respect.
  • * 1819 , Lord Byron, Don Juan , II.143:
    • And then she stopped, and stood as if in awe / (For sleep is awful ).
  • Struck or filled with awe.
  • (obsolete) Terror-stricken.
  • Worshipful; reverential; law-abiding.
  • Exceedingly great; usually applied intensively.
    • an awful bonnet
    I have learnt an awful amount today.
  • Very bad.
    • My socks smell awful .

    Usage notes

    * Nouns to which "awful" is often applied: day, truth, time, place, moment, mess, night, news, state, situation, smell, thought, person, pain, movie, consequence, crime, fate, death, tragedy, man, event, disease, story, condition, mistake, taste, picture, year, calamity, doom, film, catastrophe, secret, performance, storm, end, week, shape, choice.

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Adverb

    (-)
  • (colloquial) Very, extremely; as, an awful big house.

    • See also

    * awfully.

    External links

    * *

    serious

    English

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Without humor or expression of happiness; grave in manner or disposition; earnest; thoughtful; solemn.
    • It was a surprise to see the captain, who had always seemed so serious , laugh so heartily.
  • Important; weighty; not trifling; leaving no room for play; needing great attention; critical.
    • This is a serious problem. We'll need our best experts.
  • Really intending what is said; being in earnest; not jesting or deceiving; meaningful.
    • After all these years, we're finally getting serious attention.

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Antonyms

    * trifling, unimportant * (intending what is said) jesting

    Derived terms

    * srs (abbreviation) * dead serious * seriously * seriousness * serious-minded * serious-mindedly * serious-mindedness

    External links

    * *

    Statistics

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