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awfully

/ˈɔf(ə)li/
/ˈɔfəli/
IPA guide

Use the adverb awfully to emphasize something, or to mean "very." You might say that you'd love to live in New York City, but it's awfully expensive.

The word awfully is most often used for emphasis, as a way to say "extremely," "immensely," or "highly." Your newborn nephew might be awfully cute, or your surprise birthday party might be awfully fun. You can also use the word to mean "dreadfully" or "terribly," as in "My team played just awfully, so I wasn't surprised when they lost the game." The original meaning was "inspiring awe" or "inspiring reverence."

Definitions of awfully
  1. adverb
    in a terrible manner
  2. adverb
    of a dreadful kind
    synonyms: dreadfully, horribly
  3. adverb
    used as intensifiers
    synonyms: awful, frightfully, terribly
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