awesome

Hello everybody.

My question is about the use of awesome.

I have read and heard this word in contexts in which something positive is referred to.

Can it be also used in a negative sense?

e.g. It was awesome. The plane crashed a few miles before the runway.

awesome - frightening
awesome - extremely impressive
probably the person stood in awe of the crash.

Context is everything!
let's wait for more from natives.👁 Smile :-)
))

That's a good question, Ralife. "Awesome" meaning "dreadful" or "awful" is an older use of the word. Nowadays, at least here in the U.S., "awesome" generally means "wonderful" or "great". I think many younger U.S. speakers would misunderstand the term with its older meaning. Here's a good thread on this topic: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1603350 You can find others under the definition of "awesome" in the WR dictionary.

Awesome was not a word I was familiar with until it crept in with the postive meaning, not very long ago.
The plane crash in post #1 was awful.

awesom [awesome] meaning in BE?

awesome vs formidable (referring to respect)

To get a good sense of the variety of understanding of this word you need to read through the threads listed in the dictionary entry.