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Strange vs Awful - What's the difference?

strange | awful |

In obsolete terms the difference between strange and awful

is that strange is not familiar; unaccustomed; inexperienced while awful is terror-stricken.

As adjectives the difference between strange and awful

is that strange is not normal; odd, unusual, surprising, out of the ordinary while awful is oppressing with fear or horror; appalling, terrible.

As a verb strange

is to alienate; to estrange.

As a noun strange

is vagina.

As a proper noun Strange

is {{surname}.

As an adverb awful is

very, extremely; as, an awful big house.

strange

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Not normal; odd, unusual, surprising, out of the ordinary.
  • He thought it strange that his girlfriend wore shorts in the winter.
  • * Milton
  • Sated at length, erelong I might perceive / Strange alteration in me.
  • Unfamiliar, not yet part of one's experience.
  • I moved to a strange town when I was ten.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Here is the hand and seal of the duke; you know the character, I doubt not; and the signet is not strange to you.
  • * 1955 , edition, ISBN 0553249592, pages 48–49:
  • She's probably sitting there hoping a couple of strange detectives will drop in.
  • (physics) Having the quantum mechanical property of strangeness.
  • * 2004 Frank Close, Particle Physics: A Very Short Introduction , Oxford, page 93:
  • A strange quark is electrically charged, carrying an amount -1/3, as does the down quark.
  • (obsolete) Belonging to another country; foreign.
  • * Shakespeare
  • one of the strange queen's lords
  • * Ascham
  • I do not contemn the knowledge of strange and divers tongues.
  • (obsolete) Reserved; distant in deportment.
  • * Shakespeare
  • She may be strange and shy at first, but will soon learn to love thee.
    (Nathaniel Hawthorne)
  • (obsolete) Backward; slow.
  • * Beaumont and Fletcher
  • Who, loving the effect, would not be strange / In favouring the cause.
  • (obsolete) Not familiar; unaccustomed; inexperienced.
  • * Shakespeare
  • In thy fortunes am unlearned and strange .

    Synonyms

    * (not normal) bizarre, fremd, odd, out of the ordinary, peculiar, queer, singular, unwonted, weird * (qualifier, not part of one's experience): new, unfamiliar, unknown * See also

    Antonyms

    * (not normal) everyday, normal, regular (especially US), standard, usual, unsurprising * (qualifier, not part of one's experience): familiar, known

    Derived terms

    * for some strange reason * like a cat in a strange garret * strange as it may seem * strange bird * strangelet * strange matter * strange quark * strangely * strangeness * strangeonium * stranger things happen at sea, stranger things have happened at sea * strange to say * truth is stranger than fiction

    Verb

    (strang)
  • (obsolete) To alienate; to estrange.
  • (obsolete) To be estranged or alienated.
  • (obsolete) To wonder; to be astonished.
  • (Glanvill)

    Statistics

    *

    Noun

    (no plural)
  • (slang, uncountable) vagina
  • ----

    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.