dreadfully
Americanadverb
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in a dreadful way.
The pain has increased dreadfully.
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very; extremely.
Sorry to be so dreadfully late.
adverb
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in a shocking, or disagreeable manner
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(intensifier)
you're dreadfully kind
Etymology
Origin of dreadfully
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.
Rebounding from dreadfully depressing injury news to knock out the NBA’s best rebounding team?
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
"This is a dreadfully difficult, incredibly sad and utterly tragic case," the judge added.
From BBC ● Jan. 21, 2026
So music breaks down barriers, as characters keep telling us in a dreadfully blunt script: “This isn’t the mill, this is the choral. And we’re all equal here.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 24, 2025
"This is plainly a dreadfully sad case," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2024
She leans in to ask Celia a question, her eyes dreadfully serious.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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.
