adj
awesome
AW-suhm
adj
1
Extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring a sense of wonder.
"The awesome scale of the canyon left them speechless."
2
informal: Excellent; really great.
"That concert was awesome!"
"She did an awesome job on the presentation."
How to Use Awesome
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishEither genuinely awe-inspiring, or (much more commonly today) just "really good".
When to use it
The casual "excellent" sense is informal — avoid it in formal writing.
Word Forms
more awesome comparative, awesomer comparative, most awesome superlative, awesomest superlative
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The _____ scale of the canyon left them speechless.
Etymology
From awe + -some. The informal "excellent" sense became especially popular in American English from the mid-20th century onward.