From awe + -some; compare earlier awful and Middle English eiful (“inducing fright or terror, terrible”), from Old English eġeful (“fearful; inspiring awe”). The oldest meaning of awesome is of “something which inspires awe”, but the word is now also a common colloquial expression. It was originally so used in the United States, where it had featured strikingly in the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!, as used by Japan's Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto to describe the "awesome" industrial potential of the United States. Consequently, as the word popularly became an expression for anything superb, in its original meaning it has tended to be replaced by the related word, awe-inspiring.
1
Causing awe or terror; inspiring wonder or excitement.
The waterfall in the middle of the rainforest was an awesome sight.
The tsunami was awesome in its destructive power.
4 more examples
And now it appeared that there was a mysterious Queen clothed by rumour with dread and wonderful attributes, and commonly known by the impersonal, but, to my mind, rather awesome title of She.1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
I think that the most fearsome attribute of these awesome creatures is their silence and the fact that one never sees them—nothing but those baleful eyes glaring unblinkingly out of the dark void behind.1913 January–May, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Gods of Mars”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as “The Eyes in the Dark”, in The Gods of Mars, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., September 1918, →OCLC, page 227:
Certainly it is awesome to think of a nation that brings its powers of persuasion against a woman's right to conceive.1984 February 14, John Corry, “Birth Curb in China”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
“Congratulations, President Trump,” Netanyahu said in a video statement immediately following the U.S. attack. “Your bold decision to target Iran's nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history.”2025 June 25, Daniel Estrin, quoting Benjamin Netanyahu, “Israel was once deterred from striking Iran. Now Netanyahu takes a victory lap”, in NPR:
From awe + -some; compare earlier awful and Middle English eiful (“inducing fright or terror, terrible”), from Old English eġeful (“fearful; inspiring awe”). The oldest meaning of awesome is of “something which inspires awe”, but the word is now also a common colloquial expression. It was originally so used in the United States, where it had featured strikingly in the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!, as used by Japan's Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto to describe the "awesome" industrial potential of the United States. Consequently, as the word popularly became an expression for anything superb, in its original meaning it has tended to be replaced by the related word, awe-inspiring.
1
Abbreviation, Clipping, Slang Clipping of awesomeness (“the quality, state, or essence of being awesome”).
pure awesome
made of awesome
3 more examples
Plus, her patent leather boots were made of awesome. They made her legs look longer and leaner.2011, Gwen Hayes, Let Me Call You Sweetheart, Samhain Publishing, Ltd., published 2011, →ISBN, page 6:
Swayze, of course, is the being of pure awesome who has by now conquered all of Heaven.2011, Kevin Seccia, Punching Tom Hanks: Dropkicking Gorillas and Pummeling Zombified Ex-Presidents—A Guide to Beating Up Anything, St. Martin's Press, published 2011, →ISBN, page 189:
“Your grandmother,” he mumbles into my hair as we cuddle on the couch, “is made of awesome.”2013, Carrie Jones, Captivate, Bloomsbury, published 2010, →ISBN, page 150:
When an awesome is dreadful and making even the living of a common person miserable then someone from the community must stand up to resist the dreadful and check the excesses.2012, Qamrul Khanson, Psychological Healing: An Islamic Thought of Intellectual Fitness, page 123:
“Or as I like to think of it, the wusses versus the awesomes.”2019, Yvonne Lindsay, Jessica Lemmon, Katherine Garbera, Harlequin Desire October 2019: