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"awful" is also used as a crossword clue. If that's what you saw, the answer is often appalling (9 letters).
Definitions
Very bad, unpleasant, or shocking.
Word origin
From Middle English agheful, awfull, auful, aȝefull, equivalent to awe + -ful. Compare Old English eġeful, eġefull (“terrifying; awful”).
Used in a sentence
“The smell of my socks is awful.”
“We saw such an awful film last night that we left the theater before the end.”
“I have learnt an awful amount today.”
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer1 curated clues
01“Very poor”5 letters
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