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# dreadfully

adverb (dreadfully)

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

## Everyday

1. Very; extremely: «I'm dreadfully sorry.» [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dreadfully/#m1)
2. Very badly: «The team played dreadfully.» [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dreadfully/#m2)

### In the lessons

In old British books such as Alice in Wonderland, «dreadfully» is often used for «very»: Alice was «dreadfully puzzled» and «dreadfully frightened». It sounds polite and a little old-fashioned. In everyday talk «dreadfully» can also mean in a very bad way.

### Examples

- I'm dreadfully sorry about the window. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dreadfully/#x1)
- Alice was dreadfully puzzled by the Hatter's remark. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dreadfully/#x2)
- The play went dreadfully — everyone forgot their lines. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dreadfully/#x3)
- It was dreadfully cold in the castle. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dreadfully/#x4)
- She missed her family dreadfully. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dreadfully/#x5)
- Mole was dreadfully frightened in the Wild Wood. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dreadfully/#x6)
- It certainly was a dreadfully hard frost. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dreadfully/#x7)

### Note

Adverb of dreadful (very bad; terrible). Spelling: dreadful + ly — two l's. Similar: awfully, terribly, very.

## On Mova

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