It’s official: “awesome” is dead.

It’s our fault. We killed it. We took a word that literally meant “awe-inspiring” – a word used to describe Mount Everest and the Andromeda Galaxy and God Almighty – and applied it to a YouTube video of a kid failing to swing a stick.

Don’t get me wrong. Words change meaning over time, I’m all for evolution. But “awesome,” in its current state, has the impact of limp ramen on Kevlar. When someone tells me something is awesome, my brain files that something into the category of things that exist, because that’s all they’ve told me about it.

I know – I’m as guilty as anyone else. But as I carried the disease, so shall I deliver the cure.

Let’s give “awesome” a break. As writers (or merely as excellent dudes and ladies) let’s do our duty to the English language. The next time you feel like using “awesome” for something really good, give another word a chance instead.

28 Words to Use Instead of “Awesome”

1. Outstanding

2. Astounding

3. Staggering

4. Kryptonian*

5. Breathtaking

6. Stunning

7. Prodigious

8. Stupendous

9. Righteous

10. Wicked

11. Superb

12. Sublime

13. Indomitable

14. Transcendent

15. Marvelous

16. Resplendent

17. Phenomenal

18. Remarkable

19. Funkadelic*

20. Magnificent

21. Virtuosic

22. Rapturous

23. Flawless

24. Majestic

25. Splendiferous

26. Badass

27. Kickass

28. Legendary

*Some people may try to tell you this is not a real word. Ignore them.

Now, a caveat. Remember when your fifth-grade English teacher passed out those handouts of words to use instead of “said,” and suddenly every story had people “exclaiming” and “expounding” and (scary but true) “ejaculating”?

Same deal here. Every word is a little different, and you can’t necessarily just drag and drop. You may have to examine the context a bit. Y’all are smart, you can do it. I have faith.

Got any other words for “awesome”? Tell me in the comments!