awfully
Americanadverb
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very; extremely.
That was awfully nice of you. He's awfully slow.
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in a manner provoking censure, disapproval, or the like.
She behaved awfully all evening.
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Archaic.
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in a manner inspiring awe.
shouting awfully the dreaded curse.
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in a manner expressing awe.
to stare awfully.
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adverb
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in an unpleasant, bad, or reprehensible manner
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informal (intensifier)
I'm awfully keen to come
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archaic so as to express or inspire awe
Commonly Confused
See awful.
Etymology
Origin of awfully
Explanation
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."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Counterpoint: Cavan Sullivan is getting awfully hard to ignore.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
That’s an awfully big threat, you might think, but the president is way ahead of you.
From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2026
It is also an awfully revealing picture of where American trust in the food system is right now.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
He is the striker Scotland has been crying out for for an awfully long time, an instinctive and clever finisher, a guy who can score different types of goals.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026
It is awfully easy to be hard-boiled about everything in the daytime, but at night it is another thing.
From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
