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Is the word awesome overused?
Many object to the use of awesome to describe something (such as a sandwich) that does not literally elicit feelings of awe. Yet the same people who insist that awesome should be used only of weighty subjects (Niagara Falls, man landing on the moon) will happily use the word awful in reference to something (such as a mess) that falls distinctly short of being “full of awe.” This weakened sense was once considered improper—in fact, complaints about it persisted through the early decades of the 20th century.
The change in meaning that awesome is undergoing may be more recent than that of awful, but both words are treading the same path. For evidence that such change is normal, we need look no further than awe, which originally meant “terror” and now carries the weaker sense “wonder.”
Examples of awesome in a Sentence
Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 21 Apr. 2025
The awesome battery life will easily last you through a long day of heavy scrolling and video streaming.
—Shubham Yewale, PC Magazine, 21 Apr. 2025
There’s an awesome Amazon deal on a space-saving outdoor grill with a legion of fans.
—Clint Davis, People.com, 21 Apr. 2025
As a spectacle, there are few better ways to describe it than awesome.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 20 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for awesome
Cite this Entry
“Awesome.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/awesome. Accessed 27 Apr. 2025.
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awesome
adjective
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