Alternatives is a recurring post in which I give synonyms for an over used word. Click on the tab above for a "complete" list of over used words. Depending on how you use it, this list may come in handy for finding another way to say the same thing.
Today's word is Awfully/Awful.
Considering that awful means full of awe, inspiring I'll first give you a short list of synonyms that are related to that meaning. Then we'll get into the good stuff. Those ugly, nasty, obnoxious words we all like to use.
amazing, astonishing, awesome
eye-opening,
fabulous,
miraculous,
portentous, prodigious,
staggering, stunning, stupendous, sublime, surprising,
wonderful, wondrous
Now for the good stuff.
"In that terrible fight to the death, I managed to stab the fearsome, nauseating, nightmarish, monster in the eye with my plastic bayonet. When its noxious acid blood spurted all over us, I thought we were goners. It was vile I tell you, vile."
abhorrent, abominable, abysmal, alarming, appalling, atrocious
barbarous, blood-curdling, brackish
deplorable, depressing, despicable, detestable, dire, disgusting,
distasteful, distressing, disturbing, dread, dreadful
evil
fearful, fearsome, forbidding, foul, frightful, from hell, fulsome
ghastly, ghoulish, godawful, grim, grisly, grody, gross, grotesque,
gruesome,
grungy, gut-wrenching
hair-raising, harrowing, hateful, heart-stopping, heinous ,hellacious,
hideous, horrendous, horrible, horrid, horrific, horrifying
loathsome, lousy, lurid
macabre, miserable, monstrous
nasty, nauseating, nauseous, nightmarish, noisome, noxious
objectionable, obnoxious, obscene, odious, offensive, off-putting,
painful
rancid, raunchy, repellent, repugnant, repulsive, revolting
scandalous, scary, shake in one’s shoes, shake/tremble like
a leaf, shocking, sick, sickening, sickish, sickly, stinking
terrible
ugly, uncivilized, undesirable, ungodly, unhealthy, unholy, unpleasant,
unsavory, unsightly, unspeakable, unwanted, unwelcomed, unwholesome, upsetting
vile
Got a favorite awful word?
Despicable is a favourite of mine, mainly when said by Daffy Duck.
ReplyDeletemood
Moody Writing
Any word can become awful when overused, like hero and courageous when used about sports people.
ReplyDeleteHi, Bish! Great post. Cool picture.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Yes, I like that word.
ReplyDeleteThat photo is great.
I remember in the film version of Little Women, Beth chides Amy for using "awful" to mean "terrible," saying to her "don't use slang." I guess that means the meaning shifted from a good connotation to a bad one sometime in the 1860s.
ReplyDeleteI love the word odious. Makes you think of a very, very, very bad smell.
That picture is so cute! Oh, that gives me ideas...
ReplyDeleteThe photo is great!
ReplyDeleteI don't have a favorite awful word, but Wow! That list! I'm a huge fan of the thesaurus when I can't find the word I'm looking for.
I really like the sound of 'obnoxious'
ReplyDeleteI love the word "macabre," but I don't use it a lot.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I never think of awful to mean something good- but it makes sense that it does. This list was excellent. I espceially like heinous and repugnant!
ReplyDeleteI like abysmal! Not if it's used about my writing though, haha. :)
ReplyDeleteHope you have a great weekend!
OMG this post is amazing. SO MANY WORDS. I am going to go to bed a happy girl tonight. Thank you. :)
ReplyDeleteThis all is just facinating. Awfully facinating. :-)
ReplyDeleteI tend to use "horrendous."
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