Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

See What's Trending Now See More Trending Words

an awful lot

Definition of an awful lot

informal
1 :a large amount
  • They lost an awful lot of money.
  • She does an awful lot of talking.
2 :very much
  • I like him an awful lot.

Explore M-W

alt-59cabc6d7aa91
How 'Premises' Came to Mean 'Property'
image961678022
10 Uncommon Words for 'Drunkard'
video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066
young-plant-shoots
Merriam-Webster's New Words Quiz—Fall 2017 Edition!

Word by Word Definitions

awful play

  1. : extremely disagreeable or objectionable

  2. : exceedingly great

  3. : inspiring awe

  1. : very, extremely

See the full definition of awful
lot play

  1. : an object used as a counter in determining a question by chance

  2. : the use of lots as a means of deciding something

  3. : the resulting choice

  1. : allot, apportion

  2. : to form or divide into lots

  1. : a nephew of Abraham who according to the account in Genesis escaped from the doomed city of Sodom with his wife who turned into a pillar of salt when she looked back

See the full definition of lot

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up an awful lot? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

broadside

play

a strongly worded attack

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. dotage, dotard a state or period of senile decay

  2. otherwise "in other respects"

  3. federalism Graham says bill gives power to states

  4. bodega "Don’t mess with the beloved bodega."

  5. carceral Of, relating to, or suggesting a jail or prison

SEE ALL

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

alt-59cabc6d7aa91
How 'Premises' Came to Mean 'Property'

It goes back to the beginning

image961678022
10 Uncommon Words for 'Drunkard'

Tosspots, stewbums, and all the rest

alt-59c94ad823f29
'Meat Sweats': The Cookout's Worst Nightmare

They're real, but is meat the cause?

alt-59c919f342079
'Diffuse' vs. 'Defuse'

Let us defuse the situation.

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

young-plant-shoots
Merriam-Webster's New Words Quiz—Fall 2017 Edition!

You're going to have to memorize the dictionary again.

Take the quiz
stylized-drawing-of-woman-pole-vaulting-across-gap-to-get-trophy
Challenging Vocabulary Quiz Returns!

No tricks, just difficult words.

Take the quiz
True or False
True or False?

Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.

Take the quiz
Bee Cubed
Bee Cubed

Listen to the words and spell through all three levels.

Play the game