as in extremely
to a great degree
I'm awfully sorry
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Recent Examples of awfully
The host and her guests have an awfully good time agreeing about everything.
—
Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 24 Apr. 2026
The Orlando teammates shared a quick high-five before thrusting the air awfully close to one another.
—Mark Harris Outkick, FOXNews.com, 23 Apr. 2026
That just seems like an awfully steep price, which Paton said himself last week.
—Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 23 Apr. 2026
Charging over $100 for a short train ride sounds awfully high to me.
—Jesse Zanger, CBS News, 16 Apr. 2026
The result is that these Iranian characters, when talking among themselves in their native tongue, sound awfully like Americans having a conversation in the mall or at a nearby table at a restaurant.
—Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2026
The willingness of the officers to jump into some awfully cold water was for a good cause – Special Olympics Illinois — is admirable.
—Clifford Ward, Chicago Tribune, 3 Apr. 2026
That’s despite the fact that outfielder Wyatt Langford (4 for 28) has gotten off to an awfully quiet start in the two hole.
—Shawn McFarland, Dallas Morning News, 2 Apr. 2026
On one hand, this sounded like awfully sweeping rhetoric for a job that, oversees a handful of preëxisting city programs dealing with community groups and civic outreach.
—Molly Fischer, New Yorker, 2 Apr. 2026
Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 24 Apr. 2026
The Orlando teammates shared a quick high-five before thrusting the air awfully close to one another.
—Mark Harris Outkick, FOXNews.com, 23 Apr. 2026
That just seems like an awfully steep price, which Paton said himself last week.
—Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 23 Apr. 2026
Charging over $100 for a short train ride sounds awfully high to me.
—Jesse Zanger, CBS News, 16 Apr. 2026
The result is that these Iranian characters, when talking among themselves in their native tongue, sound awfully like Americans having a conversation in the mall or at a nearby table at a restaurant.
—Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2026
The willingness of the officers to jump into some awfully cold water was for a good cause – Special Olympics Illinois — is admirable.
—Clifford Ward, Chicago Tribune, 3 Apr. 2026
That’s despite the fact that outfielder Wyatt Langford (4 for 28) has gotten off to an awfully quiet start in the two hole.
—Shawn McFarland, Dallas Morning News, 2 Apr. 2026
On one hand, this sounded like awfully sweeping rhetoric for a job that, oversees a handful of preëxisting city programs dealing with community groups and civic outreach.
—Molly Fischer, New Yorker, 2 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for awfully
Adverb
-
Maine, too, saw its COVID numbers increase dramatically despite extremely high vaccination uptake.—
Ian Miller OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
8 May 2026
-
Even from my extremely suboptimal vantage point in the very front corner of the theater, I was awed by the depth and crispness of the 3D imagery.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
7 May 2026
Adverb
-
This other cousin is now in her mid-70s and has always enjoyed a very luxurious life due to the business success of her father – my uncle – and our grandfather.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Chicago Tribune,
3 May 2026
-
With the naked eye and especially through good binoculars, its conjunction with a slender crescent moon on May 18 will be very pleasing to see.—
Joe Rao,
Space.com,
2 May 2026
Adverb
-
However, the path to the starting lineup may not be terribly long a wait for Parker.—
Joe Buscaglia,
New York Times,
30 Apr. 2026
-
All told, the destructive flooding killed at least 136 people along a several-mile stretch of the river, raising questions about how things went so terribly wrong.—
Jim Vertuno,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
And yes, in 2026, rage coming from either side of the aisle is an incredibly powerful tool for marketing.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
28 Apr. 2026
-
But there’s something incredibly unnatural about the fast attention of the internet.—
Charlie Harding,
Vulture,
28 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
And Bona, a second-year reserve, got caught too many times reaching in the cookie jar while defending Towns.—
Fiifi Frimpong,
New York Daily News,
7 May 2026
-
His next three fixtures are great for many reasons, too.—
Abdul Rehman,
New York Times,
7 May 2026
Adverb
-
This highly economical approach enabled her to foreground editing techniques and video effects, as well as color and sound mixing.—
Pauline J. Yao,
Artforum,
2 May 2026
-
Because hair treatment products often take a few months to begin showing results, these customers are expected to be highly loyal.—
Laya Neelakandan,
CNBC,
2 May 2026
Adverb
-
But Cleveland State was, in fact, a damned good basketball team, as were most of the double-digit seed winners in NCAA Tournament history.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
18 Mar. 2026
-
And damned if Love isn’t willing to talk, sometimes candidly and other times in maddeningly vague terms, about all the hell she’s gone through to get to right now.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
28 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
Those who know better but act badly deserve the scorn of the people — maybe more than the lunatic-in-chief.—
Lucas Robinson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 May 2026
-
But without Embiid, the 76ers badly lacked a finisher down the stretch of their 108-102 loss at Madison Square Garden.—
Peter Sblendorio,
New York Daily News,
7 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Awfully.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/awfully. Accessed 8 May. 2026.
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