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View synonyms for awfully

awfully

[ aw-fuh-lee, awf-lee ]

adverb

  1. very; extremely:

    That was awfully nice of you. He's awfully slow.

  2. in a manner provoking censure, disapproval, or the like:

    She behaved awfully all evening.

  3. Archaic.
    1. in a manner inspiring awe:

      shouting awfully the dreaded curse.

    2. in a manner expressing awe:

      to stare awfully.



awfully

/ ˈɔːflɪ; ˈɔːfəlɪ /

adverb

  1. in an unpleasant, bad, or reprehensible manner
  2. informal.
    (intensifier)

    I'm awfully keen to come

  3. archaic.
    so as to express or inspire awe


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Confusables Note

See awful.

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Word History and Origins

Origin of awfully1

1350–1400; Middle English auefulli; awful, -ly

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Example Sentences

Yes, the message of the commercial was that our lives are all rich in experiences, but there’s something awfully tone-deaf and insensitive about that “billionaire” framing amid an economic crisis.

It arrives feeling off-topic, thematically troubled and awfully depressing.

I’ve been awfully lucky in my career to be exposed to many extraordinary thinkers and many situations that have been truly mind-expanding.

Right now they’re reeling, and last year seems awfully long ago.

Being the bad guy, if done right and for the right reasons, can feel awfully good.

I covered New York politics for 15 years, and I saw some awfully tense moments between the police and Democratic politicians.

But there is much more to this story, some of which will seem awfully familiar.

Matt and Daniel come awfully close, however, to having a pretty good guess at what the next few years will bring.

They can be unmade by judicial fiat, but it feels awfully cruel to do so.

But warplanes from the U.S.-led coalition came awfully close to striking one of their HQs.

Another time she might have smiled at the thought as fanciful: it seemed awfully real now.

They say he was awfully wild and reckless at that time, and Liszt paid his debts over and over again.

Because, if you were never unkind to her, like Nurse said you were, she'll be most awfully glad to see you again.

"Mother would be awfully cross if you walked through that ditch," says Judy, continuing a conversation.

She just told me so, and she showed me the papers and said there were awfully hard questions in them.

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