I’ve seen this in several places lately; most egregiously in a TV commercial campaign from Chevrolet. Referring to the honors they’ve won, Chevy is “the most awarded car ever.”
“Most awarded”??? That just clangs off my ear. That can’t be right, can it?
Shouldn’t it be “most honored” or “most distinguished”?
The only time I’d use “awarded” is as a verb: the gold medal was awarded to the winner.
And if you won a gold metal on two occasions, you were awarded twice. And if you won a gold metal 23 times, they you may have been the most awarded ever. I don’t see a problem with the phrasing. Maybe make it “most often awarded.”
I think it’s a useful term. To me, “most awarded” means you’ve received the largest quantity of awards. “Most honored” refers to the quality of those awards. So if I’ve won two MTV Movie awards and you’ve won an Academy award, I’m most awarded and you’re most honored. (“Most distinguished” seems too vague to me to have any meaningful definition. It could just mean you’re wearing a necktie.)
Why is it that out of the verbs “award,” “honor,” and “distinguish” only the past participle of “award” bothers you? And are you not aware that past participles are routinely used as adjectives?
I think because it seems like a new, and clunky and inferior, usage. Is there some database that can track occurrences of the phrase “most awarded” over time?
It may be of longstanding usage and honored origin, but it clanks to me. I’d never use it.
It does have the air of marketing bullshit about it. Quite intentional forcing of the language to attribute the benefit of comparison without ever making one. Using other terms like ‘distinguished’ or ‘honored’ might trigger the listener’s sense of reason in accepting such a judgement.
I have heard alternatively, “most award winning.” I honestly don’t know if it’s better, though. “Most awarded” does not sound terribly unnatural to my ear.
The usage does seem to be pretty fairly recent, but here’s an example from 1963.
The problem with “(most) honored” and “(most) distinguished” is that they’re vague. Their meanings are imprecise and raise questions of just how is one honored or distinguished, and by whom. Awards, on the other hand, are discrete things and can be counted. A claim of “most awarded” can be verified (or disproved). I’m not sure “most distinguished” can even be defined, much less supported by anything beyond opinion.
I was just coming in here to mention NGrams as a means of referencing the usage.
Ran a search back to texts from AD 1400 to present day, for both ‘awarded’ and ‘most awarded’.
‘Most awarded’ doesn’t show up until recently, but ‘awarded’ shows use back several centuries, with a huge spike in the late 1500’s. Interesting.
‘Most awarded’ NGram
Thank god, a kindred spirit. 
I must have a sensitive ear, because I have a similar issue with “bravery”.
It seemed to happen post-9/11…but the preferred term to describe such actions became “bravery”, which sounds forced and unnatural – while the much more elegant “courage” lay on the shelf unused.
Good opportunity to try out ngrams.
But it can still be rigged. People see an ad saying that “our product has won twenty industry awards” they assume that these awards are being given out by some neutral organization.
The reality is that there are organizations that are designed to hand out awards to anybody who would like one. You approach the organization and say you’d like them to hand out an award - and you’ll “sponsor” them. So they come up with a competition and write the rules specifically so your product will win the award. You can then turn around and proclaim your victory.
They are. But look at the verbs; they are not used in the same way:
I don’t “honour” a medal to you; I honour you with a medal. It is you that is honoured, .
I don’t “distingush:” a medal to you; I distinguish you with a medal. It is you that is distinguished.
But I award a medal to you; it is the medal that is awarded, not you.
Thus the “most awarded car” is not, to my ear, the car that has received the most awards; it is the car that has been most often presented as an award. The Purple Heart is the most awarded US military decoration, for example, but the person who has received the most decorations is not the most awarded, but the most decorated.
I think you’ve nailed it. This is why it sounds so wrong.
NVM, no good way to express my point
You weren’t awarded. The gold medal was awarded … to you.