Awfulnesses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A state or quality of being extremely unpleasant or terrible that evokes strong negative reactions
2. The condition or characteristics of something that is marked by severe moral or aesthetic flaws that lead to disapproval
3. A collection of instances or examples of terrible things that highlight significant lack of quality or desirability

Etymology: "Awfulnesses" is simply the plural of "awfulness," so the real story belongs to its base. "Awful" began in Middle English as a compound of "awe" and "full," meaning something filled with awe, reverence or dread, and "awfulness" was formed by adding the suffix "-ness," which turns an adjective into a noun for a quality or state. The Middle English form "aghfulnesse" shows the older spelling of the same pattern. The surprising part is how far "awful" has travelled from its original sense. For centuries it described things that inspired fear or reverence, as in the awful majesty of a king or of God, and only later drifted toward meaning very bad or unpleasant. The plural form here uses that later, weaker sense, gathering together particular examples of things that are dreadful in quality.

Synonyms: terribleness, atrociousness, dreadfulness

Antonyms: wonderfulness