God-awful

[ god-aw-fuhl ]

adjective

, (sometimes lowercase)

1. extremely dreadful or shocking:

   What a God-awful thing to say!

Word History and Origins

Origin of God-awful¹

1875–80; Americanism

Example Sentences

Put aside the alarming debate performance, the concerning polls and the god-awful vibes: The reason Democrats are still in disarray over the viability of President Joe Biden’s candidacy is because President Joe Biden keeps demonstrating, in each and every public appearance, that the concerns about his fitness and ability to campaign vigorously for the next four months — to say nothing of governing for another four years — are devastatingly valid.

From Salon

Recalled West in his book: “During one particularly hard stretch, we ate the same soup out of the same pot for six days until I told my mother I simply couldn’t do it any longer. Well, let me tell you, I took the most god-awful beating that day from my father and it turned me into a tough, nasty kid and it turned me even more inward than I already was.”

From Los Angeles Times

May paused for a brief moment in wonder, then shook her head, smiled at Jack, and jumped straight into the hole he’d just cut, even as a god-awful howling tore up through the grate from the room below.

From Literature

“The jury has found me in part at fault for this God-awful tragedy but that doesn’t make me a monster, that makes me human.”

From New York Times

“If you decide you want to close the landfill because it’s a god-awful mess, then you should do that. But that’s not going to help the potential endangerment problem.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• calamitous
• deplorable
• dire
• distressing
• grievous
• grim
• lousy
• pitiful
• sad
• tragic
• unfortunate
• unsatisfactory
• woeful
• wretched