- An exclamation expressing strong approval, admiration, excitement, or enthusiasm.
- Means excellent, great, amazing, or impressive.
Explanation
Origin
- Derived from the word awe, meaning reverence, admiration, or fear inspired by something grand or powerful.
- Originally, awesome meant inspiring awe (e.g., an awesome display of power).
- Its widespread informal use to mean simply great or excellent became extremely popular in American slang starting in the late 1970s and peaking in the 1980s, particularly associated with youth and surfer/skater culture.
- It has since become mainstream but retains a casual, enthusiastic feel.
Synonyms & Related Expressions
Alternatives
Slang/Informal:
- Sweet! (Very similar in usage and tone)
- Sick! (Slang, meaning very cool or impressive)
- Dope! (Slang, meaning excellent or cool)
- Rad! (Dated 80s/90s slang for 'radical', meaning cool/great)
- Mint! (UK/Aus slang, meaning excellent)
- Ace! (UK slang, meaning excellent)
- Killer! (Slang, meaning excellent or impressive)
Vulgar/Emphatic:
- Fucking awesome! (Adds strong emphasis)
- Badass! (Slang, meaning impressively cool or tough)
- Kickass! (Slang, meaning excellent or exciting)
Milder/More Formal:
- Impressive.
- Very good.
- Splendid. (Somewhat dated/formal)
Situational Appropriateness
- Primarily informal. Extremely common in casual conversation.
- Widely accepted in many semi-formal contexts (e.g., casual workplace interactions).
- Might sound overly enthusiastic or unprofessional in very formal settings (e.g., a board meeting, academic paper).
- Its ubiquity can sometimes make it sound a bit generic if overused.
Misunderstanding Warnings
- Unlikely to be misunderstood. Learners should know it almost always means great or excellent in modern informal usage, rather than its original meaning of awe-inspiring.
Examples
- You got the job? That's awesome!
- This concert is awesome!
- Person A: I finished the project ahead of schedule. Person B: Awesome!
Dialogue
Person A: Hey, I managed to get us front-row tickets for the show!
Person B: No way! That's awesome! Thank you so much!
Person A: I know, right? It's going to be incredible!
Social Media Examples
- Tweet: Just booked my vacation! Heading to Hawaii! So awesome! ☀️🌴 #travel #excited
- Instagram Comment: Your artwork is awesome! 🔥
- Chat Message: Dude, that goal was awesome! #sports
Response Patterns
- Agreement (Yeah, it is!, Totally!).
- Thanks (if the awesome thing is something the speaker did or provided).
- Shared enthusiasm (I know, right?!).
- A smile or nod.
Common Follow-up Questions/Actions
After hearing Awesome!:
- If reacting to news, might ask for more details (Tell me more!, How did you do it?).
- If reacting to an event/thing, might continue expressing enjoyment or ask related questions.
- Often simply marks a moment of shared positivity.
Conversation Starter
- No. It's an exclamation reacting to something positive.
Intonation
- Typically said with enthusiasm and positive emotion.
- Strong stress on the first syllable AW-. AW-some!
- Often has a falling intonation characteristic of exclamations, but can have a rising intonation if expressing surprised delight.
Generation Differences
- While associated with Gen X and Millennials who popularized its casual use, it's now understood and used by nearly all generations, though perhaps less frequently by older generations in its purely great sense. Younger generations might favor newer slang like sick or dope but still use awesome.
Regional Variations
- Originated as American slang but now ubiquitous across the English-speaking world. Intensity or frequency might vary slightly.