Absolute Adjectives

Another type of extreme adjective is called an “absolute” adjective. 

These are words that are either “yes or no.” For example, dead – you can’t be “a little bit dead” or
“very dead” – either YES, you are dead, or NO, you’re not dead.
Here’s a list of absolute adjectives and their opposites (this list is not complete; it only shows some
examples):
Absolute Adjective Opposite
complete incomplete
equal unequal
essential non-essential;
extraneous
dead alive
fatal not fatal
first last / final
full empty
ideal not ideal
impossible possible
infinite finite
married single / divorced /
separated / widowed
perfect imperfect
pregnant not pregnant
unique not unique
universal not universal
unknown known
true false
Note:
You might hear expressions like these in spoken English:
“That’s very true.”
“It’s the very first time…”
“This shirt is more unique than that one.”

           I do agree with you, though, that there is still a very, very great deal left to be done.
           They were expelled from their [...] home, and lost a very great deal.
           The fact that the system cannot talk to itself is also a very great weakness.
           Applying these measures poses a very great risk to the employment of women.
           This is an ever-changing situation and the inherent dangers are very great.

These sentences are not technically correct, because we shouldn’t use the words “very” or “more”
with absolute adjectives – but native speakers don’t always follow the rules!
Modifiers to Adjectives (Adjective Phrases): Express how much or to what degree.
With most other adjectives (e.g., shallow, large, big, small, little) specified amounts are not used.So,
very, rather, pretty, quite – emphasize the adjective;
fairly, moderately, somewhat – de-emphasize (lessen) the adjective. See Adverbs of degree.

An adverb can also modify the degree or extent of an adjective. The adverb tells us: How much?  To
what degree?

The bridge towers are very / rather/ pretty  tall. 

The roadway is so / moderately  high. 
The bridge is rather / quite   long. 
The roadway is fairly / adequately    wide. 
The water below is quite / extremely    deep. 

EXTREME ADJECTIVES (MORE ABOUT IT)

AIM: To introduce the concept of extreme adjectives and practise using them.
INTRODUCTION: Many adjectives can be modified using other words to strengthen or weaken
their meaning. These examples come from the back pain case. These are called base adjectives.
• It feels pretty bad all the time.
• It was a bit hard to get to a swimming pool.
• That’s a very good idea.

AWFUL
• awful adjective (BAD)
A2 extremely bad or unpleasant: He suffered awful injuries in the crash.We had awful weather.She
has an awful boss.What an awful thing to say!Would life be so awful without a car?The food was
awful.She'd been ill and she looked awful.

More examples
• If the party is awful, we can always leave .
• The hotel was awful! To begin with, our room was far too small.
• The awful spectre of civil war looms over the country.
• It's a good job they didn't go camping last weekend - the weather was awful.
• They live downwind of a pig-farm and sometimes the smell is awful.
 Thesaurus: Not of good quality (third-class, downscale,
poor, unattractive ...)        
synonyms and related words:         
• awful adjective (VERY GREAT)
B2 [before noun] very great: I don't know an awful lot (= very much) about art, but I'm
learning.Fortunately it won't make an awful lot of difference if I don't pass the test.It was an awful
risk to take.

More examples
• There's an awful lot of smut on television these days.
• There's an awful lot of work to be done.
• It's an awful bore cooking a meal every night.
• It takes an awful long time to travel across the city on public transport.
• I'm feeling an awful lot better, thanks.