Meaning
scary, fearful, huge
- causing fear; frightening, terrifying
- easily frightened, timid, cowardly
- extraordinary in intensity, size, or skill; incredible, huge
In a sentence
Abbiamo visto un film pauroso e non sono riuscito a dormire.
We watched a scary movie and I wasn't able to sleep.
Perché sei così pauroso quando c'è un temporale?
Why are you so fearful when there is a thunderstorm?
Il concerto ha avuto un successo pauroso tra i giovani.
The concert had an enormous success among young people.
Word forms (4)
| Word | Word forms |
|---|---|
| pauroso | masculine · singular |
| paurosa | feminine · singular |
| paurosi | masculine · plural |
| paurose | feminine · plural |
Usage notes
- Can mean both 'frightening' (un film pauroso) and 'frightened/scared' (un ragazzo pauroso).
- In colloquial Italian, it often means 'unbelievable', 'immense', or 'awesome' (un successo pauroso).