[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/awfully/)

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# awfully

adverb (awfully)

«awfully» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. (informal, a little old-fashioned) Very; extremely: «awfully kind», «awfully sorry». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/awfully/#m1)
2. Very badly: «He behaved awfully.» [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/awfully/#m2)

### In the lessons

In old British books like The Wind in the Willows and Alice, characters say «awfully» a lot: «awfully nice», «awfully sorry». In modern speech it is a polite, slightly posh way to say «very». Sense 2 (badly) is less common.

### Examples

- That's awfully kind of you. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/awfully/#x1)
- I'm awfully sorry I'm late. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/awfully/#x2)
- It's awfully cold today. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/awfully/#x3)
- «This is awfully jolly!» said Tom. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/awfully/#x4)
- She sang awfully, so everyone laughed. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/awfully/#x5)
- Thank you awfully for the present. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/awfully/#x6)

### Note

Awfully usually means «very» (even with good words: «awfully nice»). Awful (adjective) means very bad. Spelling: awful + ly — two l's (awfully).

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «awfully» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/awfully/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«awfully» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/awfully.html) on Mova free.