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awful

/ˈɔːfʊl/adjective · adverb

Awful is also used as adjective or adverb, with meanings including exceptionally bad or displeasing or used as intensifiers.

7 meanings5 lettersScrabble 11

Length

5

Scrabble

11

WWF

13

Starts

AW

Ends

FUL

Difficulty

Medium

Dictionary

What Does “AWFUL” Mean?

/ˈɔːfʊl/

awful has 7 documented senses across adjective, adverb.

Adjective

6 senses
1

exceptionally bad or displeasing

atrocious taste

abominable workmanship

an awful voice

dreadful manners

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

3

offensive or even (of persons) malicious

in a nasty mood

a nasty accident

a nasty shock

a nasty smell

Synonyms

4

inspired by a feeling of fearful wonderment or reverence

awed by the silence

awful worshippers with bowed heads

Synonyms

5

extreme in degree or extent or amount or impact

in a frightful hurry

spent a frightful amount of money

6

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

{'source': 'Melville', 'text': 'this sea, whose gently awful stirrings seem to speak of some hidden soul beneath'}

Adverb

1 sense
1

used as intensifiers

terribly interesting

I'm awful sorry

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

5

Vowels

2

Consonants

3

Word Intelligence

Explore the word awful with its definition, score, letter pattern, and useful word game details.

Definition

exceptionally bad or displeasing

Length

5 letters

Starts With

A

Ends With

L

Vowels

2

Consonants

3

Letters

A, W, F, U, L

Use Case

Useful for Scrabble, Wordle, crosswords, anagrams, and other word games.

Letter Breakdown

a
w
f
u
l

Word Facts

Key letter, score, and pattern facts for awful.

AWFUL is a 5-letter word.
It has a Scrabble score of 11.
It starts with A and ends with L.
It contains 2 vowels and 3 consonants.
Its vowel share is about 40%.
It is an isogram, meaning no letter repeats.
It is not a palindrome.
Letter pattern: ABCDE.
Vowel/consonant pattern: VCCVC.

Word Strategy

Strategy notes for using awful in Scrabble, Wordle-style games, crosswords, and anagram solving.

Scrabble Strategy

★★★★☆

AWFUL has a Scrabble score of 11. It is useful for balancing a rack and building steady board position.

Wordle Strategy

★★★★☆

AWFUL is a five-letter word, so it can be considered in Wordle-style solving. It includes common vowel information that can help narrow guesses.

Crossword Strategy

★★★★☆

AWFUL can be useful in crossword solving because it has a clear starting letter, ending letter, and 5-letter structure.

Anagram Strategy

★★★★☆

AWFUL uses unique letters, giving more flexibility when checking possible anagrams and word game combinations.

Letter Intelligence

A deeper look at the letter structure, patterns, and useful game signals inside awful.

Unique Letters

5

Repeated Letters

0

Highest Value Letter

W

Letter Pattern

ABCDE

CV Pattern

VCCVC

Vowel Share

40%

Consonant Share

60%

Bigrams

AW, WF, FU, UL

Trigrams

AWF, WFU, FUL

Crossword Intelligence

Crossword-style clues, crossing help, and pattern notes for awful.

AWFUL is a 5-letter standard crossword entry.
It starts with A and ends with L, which helps narrow crossword crossings.
It contains 2 vowels and 3 consonants.
Its vowel/consonant pattern is VCCVC.
Crossword difficulty estimate: Medium.

Related Words

Word Usage Insights

Practical observations about how this word performs in different word games and puzzle situations.

This word contains 5 letters and is suitable for medium-length word games.
Its consonant/vowel pattern is VCCVC, making it relatively challenging to recognize.
With a Scrabble score of 11, it offers moderate scoring potential.
The word begins with A and ends with L, making it useful for solving pattern-based puzzles.
Every letter appears only once.

Word Intelligence Links

Explore word lists connected to AWFUL by length, score, vowels, consonants, starting letters, ending letters, and word game tools.

Word Family

Explore words that share a similar beginning or root pattern with awful.

Related Word Tools

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