awful

Compared meaning: very bad or unpleasant (adjective).

比较义项：很糟糕的、令人不愉快的（形容词）。

• awful 本词

  The most common and neutral choice; used broadly in everyday speech for almost anything unpleasant, with no strong regional or informal flavor.

  三者中最中性、最常用的词；日常口语中广泛用于形容几乎任何令人不快的事物，没有明显的地域或非正式色彩。

  The service at that restaurant was awful, so we decided never to go back.

  那家餐厅的服务很糟糕，所以我们决定再也不去了。

• lousy

  Informal, chiefly American; often implies poor quality or bad luck, and pairs naturally with words like mood, day or job, sounding too casual for formal writing.

  非正式用词，主要用于美式英语；常暗指质量差或运气不好，习惯与心情、一天、工作等词搭配，语气过于随意，不适合正式书面语。

  I've been in a lousy mood all week because work has been so stressful.

  这一周我心情一直很糟糕，因为工作压力太大了。

• horrid

  Sounds slightly old-fashioned or childish, more common in British English; expresses a strong personal reaction of disgust or dislike, often in an exaggerated way.

  听起来略显老式或孩子气，在英式英语中更常见；表达一种强烈的个人反感或厌恶情绪，语气往往带有夸张成分。

  What a horrid smell! Someone must have left the fish out on the counter.

  好可怕的气味！肯定是有人把鱼放在台面上忘了收。

Awful, lousy and horrid all mean very bad, but the tone differs. Awful is the common, neutral word. Lousy is informal, mainly American, often about a mood or job. Horrid sounds old-fashioned and British, showing strong dislike. Not compared: lousy's old sense, 'covered in lice'.

这三个词在此义项上都表示很糟糕的、令人不愉快的，可互相替换但语气不同：awful最中性常用，lousy偏口语化、带美式随性语气，horrid略显老式或孩子气、语气更强烈更具个人反感色彩。这里不比较lousy「长满虱子的」这一本义。

Compared meaning: very bad, unpleasant, or frightening (adjective).

比较义项：形容非常糟糕、令人不快或引发恐惧（adj.）。

• awful 本词

  Awful is an everyday, informal word for something very bad, unpleasant or of low quality, such as weather, food or a performance. It rarely describes fear itself and sounds milder than horrible.

  awful是日常口语化的词，泛指天气、食物、表演等非常糟糕、令人不快或质量低劣，很少直接表示恐惧，语气比horrible更温和。

  The weather was awful yesterday, so we stayed inside all day.

  昨天天气很糟糕，所以我们一整天都待在室内。

• scary

  Scary specifically means causing fear or fright, describing a place, story or experience that frightens people. Unlike the others, it is not used for general complaints about weather, traffic or quality.

  scary专指令人害怕或恐惧，用来形容让人感到害怕的地方、故事或经历；与其他几个词不同，它不用来泛泛抱怨天气、交通或质量差。

  The dark forest looked scary as night began to fall.

  夜幕降临时，黑暗的森林看起来很吓人。

• horrible

  Horrible is a strong, informal word for something shockingly bad or upsetting, used for behavior, experiences, traffic or weather. It sounds more emphatic and disgusted than awful, though still not necessarily about fear.

  horrible是语气较强的口语词，表示令人震惊的糟糕或令人不快，可用于行为、经历、交通、天气等；比awful更强烈、更带厌恶感，但同样不一定涉及恐惧。

  The traffic this morning was horrible, and I arrived an hour late.

  今天早上的交通糟糕透了，我迟到了一个小时。

• dire

  Dire is more formal and literary, describing an extremely serious, urgent or ominous situation, as in dire need, dire consequences or a dire warning. It is not used casually for bad weather or food.

  dire更正式、更书面化，用来形容极其严重、紧急或不祥的情况，例如dire need（迫切需要）、dire consequences（严重后果）、dire warning（严重警告），不用于随意描述糟糕的天气或食物。

  The flooded village was in dire need of clean water.

  被洪水淹没的村庄迫切需要干净的水。

Awful, scary, horrible, and dire all mean very bad or frightening. Awful and horrible are informal words for something bad or unpleasant. Scary means causing fear. Dire is formal, describing an extremely serious situation. It does not cover awful's older meaning, inspiring awe.

这四个词在表示“很糟糕/可怕”时意思相近，但侧重和语域不同：scary强调引发恐惧，awful和horrible是口语中泛指质量差或令人不快（horrible语气更强、更带厌恶感），dire则更正式，强调情况极其严重紧急。这里不比较awful表示“令人敬畏的”这一较陈旧的义项。