awfulness

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"awfulness" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“awfulness” is uncommon English (frequency #72,960 among 3,931 “A” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#72,960
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The state or quality of being awful.

Corpus desk

Index EN-awfulness · awfulness · English

awfulness · rank #72,960 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #72,960
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH backache

Nearest frequency peer: backache (+2 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “awfulness”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “awfulness” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for awfulness
PropertyValue
Headwordawfulness
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters9
Frequency rank#72,960
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “awfulness” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).awfulnessfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “backache” (#72,962), “Baikonur” (#72,963), “autocomplete” (#72,956). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “awfulness” is #72,960. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

awfulness is uncommon English at frequency #72,960 among 3,931 “A” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

awfulness doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English aghfulnesse, equivalent to awful + -ness. The correct English form is awfulness, spelled A-W-F-U-L-N-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    The state or quality of being awful.
  2. 2
    The quality of striking with awe, or with reverence
  3. 3
    The state of being struck with awe; a spirit of solemnity; profound reverence.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how awfulness appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Out came old Teenie, buzzing mad as a whole nest of wasps. Muttered awfulnesses came from her great padded bonnet.
  2. "Why is the awfulness of families such a popular reason for starting another?"

Etymology

From Middle English aghfulnesse, equivalent to awful + -ness.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "awfulness"?
"awfulness" is spelled A-W-F-U-L-N-E-S-S.
What does "awfulness" mean?
As a noun, "awfulness" means: The state or quality of being awful.
What is the origin of the word "awfulness"?
From Middle English aghfulnesse, equivalent to awful + -ness. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "awfulness", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Balthasar#72,966Archuleta#72,950anatomist#72,941bejeweled#72,981

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list