woefully

Sometimes wo·ful·ly

[woh-fuh-lee]

adverb

1. in a sad or miserable way.

   More often than I care to remember, I’ve been stumped for suitable small talk and have ended up staring woefully into my drink.

2. to a particularly regrettable or unfortunate degree.

   The treatments prescribed by this psychiatrist are at best woefully inadequate, and at worst, make the patients more disabled than when they started out.

Other Word Forms

• unwoefully adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of woefully¹

woeful ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

Back when he began coaching in the 1990s, U.S. runners were woefully far behind.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Instead, the Jets have played woefully on both sides of the ball and looked as sloppy as ever.

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Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed to appeal what she called a “woefully insufficient sentence imposed by the district court, which does not reflect the horrific facts of this case.”

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Dr Botha added that pain relief for pregnant women was "woefully lacking", with Tylenol being one of the only safe options for the population.

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In 2009, the American Civil Liberties Union and the United Farm Workers union sued Cal/OSHA, saying the statute was too weak and the agency’s enforcement was “woefully inadequate.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• acutely 
• badly 
• greatly 
• sadly 
• severely