Alone. Yes, that's the key word, the most awful word in the English tongue. Murder doesn't hold a candle to it and hell is only a poor synonym.

This quote speaks about the extraordinary distress that comes with feeling alone. The word ‘alone’ is described as the “most awful word in the English tongue”, meaning it expresses worse feelings than even the words ‘murder’ or ‘hell’. This suggests the speaker has deep sadness and a feeling of intense loneliness when they think of being alone.