What does awesome mean?
Word: Awesome
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Awesome means so impressive, huge or powerful that it fills you with wonder; in everyday talk it also means extremely good.
Synonyms: amazing, impressive, breathtaking
Antonyms: dull
Word origin: Formed in English in the late 1500s from awe, a word that came from Old Norse agi.
How do you spell awesome?
Syllables: awe - some
Tricky part: Students hear no sound after the aw, so they often leave out the silent e that comes straight after it.
Watch out for: awsome, awsom
Memory tip: Awe, awesome, awestruck: the whole family keeps the e, so write the three together until it sticks.
Awesome in a sentence
Example 1: The view of the Himalayas from the plane window was awesome.
Example 2: Our school band gave an awesome performance at the annual day.
Example 3: Watching a whale shark glide past the boat was an awesome sight for the divers.
Fun Fact
For centuries awesome described things that inspired great wonder or respect, such as mountains or storms; its casual sense of "really good" became popular in American slang in the 1980s.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Tally
Each correctly spelt word earns 3 marks. How many marks does this list earn?
awesome, lonesome, quarelsome, burdensome, cumbersum
a) 6
b) 15
c) 9
d) 12
Show answer
c) 9. Three words are right (3 x 3 = 9); quarrelsome needs a double r and cumbersome ends in -some.
Jumble Tumble
What is the meaning of the word that can be formed from the given letters?
waemeos
a) making a soft, gentle noise
b) tired out after hard work
c) extremely impressive or striking
d) too small to be seen easily
Show answer
c) extremely impressive or striking. The seven letters rebuild a word for something so impressive that people stop and stare.
Word Fusion
Choose the two parts that join to make a meaningful word:
1. lone 2. some 3. quar 4. rel 5. awe 6. ly
a) 1 and 4
b) 4 and 6
c) 5 and 2
d) 3 and 6
Show answer
c) 5 and 2. Awe and some join to make a word for something that fills you with wonder; quarly, relly and lonerel are not words.
Word Puzzle
Match the words with the correct options:
1. awesome 2. reckless 3. lavish a. frugal b. careful c. ordinary
a) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a
b) 1-a, 2-b, 3-c
c) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b
d) 1-c, 2-b, 3-a
Show answer
d) 1-c, 2-b, 3-a. Ordinary is the opposite of awesome, careful of reckless, and frugal of lavish.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. The word awesome best fits which sight?
a) an empty cardboard box
b) a pile of unwashed dishes
c) a rainbow over a huge waterfall
d) a puddle on the footpath
Show answer
c) a rainbow over a huge waterfall
2. In which sentence is awesome used in its casual, everyday sense?
a) The awesome force of the river carved the valley.
b) Thanks for the lift, that was awesome of you.
c) The awesome height of the peak silenced the climbers.
d) The awesome size of the cathedral amazed the tourists.
Show answer
b) Thanks for the lift, that was awesome of you.
