Meaning & use
awful feeling
Last updated
Meanings
phrasecountable
a strong, unpleasant emotion that you experience, often without knowing exactly why
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'an awful feeling' or 'awful feelings'.
Patterns
- an awful feeling
- have an awful feeling
- get an awful feeling
- an awful feeling about something
I had an awful feeling in my stomach before the exam.
She got an awful feeling when she walked into the empty house.
He couldn't shake the awful feeling that he had forgotten something important.
phrasecountable
a strong intuition that something bad is going to happen
Grammar: Often followed by 'that' or 'about': 'an awful feeling that...', 'an awful feeling about...'.
Patterns
- an awful feeling that ...
- have an awful feeling about something
I have an awful feeling that we're going to miss the train.
She had an awful feeling about the meeting, and she was right.
Word forms
| plural | awful feelings |
|---|
Common combinations
- have an awful feeling
- I have an awful feeling about this.
- get an awful feeling
- I got an awful feeling when I saw the police car.
- an awful feeling in your stomach
- She had an awful feeling in her stomach before the test.
- an awful feeling that ...
- He had an awful feeling that something was wrong.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dread
- Dread is a stronger, more literary word for a deep fear of something coming; 'awful feeling' is more everyday and less intense.
- unease
- Unease is a mild, general discomfort; 'awful feeling' is stronger and more personal.
Opposites
Commonly confused: awful feeling or awfully?
awful feeling vs awfully
Awfully is an adverb meaning 'very' or 'extremely' (e.g., 'awfully sorry'), not a feeling.
Practice
I have ___ that I left my keys at home.
Choose one answer.
The phrase is countable and usually takes 'an' when it refers to one instance. 'Awful feeling' without 'an' is not standard; 'the' would suggest a specific feeling already mentioned; 'awful feelings' is plural and does not fit 'that I left my keys' (one specific intuition).
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “awful feeling”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.