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

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# frightfully

adverb

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

## Everyday

1. (old-fashioned, mainly UK) Very; extremely, as in «frightfully kind» or «frightfully sorry». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/frightfully/#m1)
2. In a frightening or terrible way. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/frightfully/#m2)

### In the lessons

Sense 1 is a posh, old-fashioned British way of talking, common in older children's books: «frightfully good», «frightfully sorry». Toad in The Wind in the Willows talks like this. Sense 2 is rarer: «frightfully injured».

### Examples

- «Frightfully sorry, old chap!» said Toad. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/frightfully/#x1)
- It was frightfully kind of you to come. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/frightfully/#x2)
- The water was frightfully cold. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/frightfully/#x3)
- The town was frightfully damaged in the storm. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/frightfully/#x4)
- «That's frightfully clever,» said the duchess. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/frightfully/#x5)
- I'm frightfully tired after the long walk. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/frightfully/#x6)
- Mr. Darling was frightfully ashamed of himself, but he would not give in. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/frightfully/#x7)

### Note

Adverb from «frightful» (terrible, shocking). In sense 1 it just means «very» and is not about fear; it sounds upper-class and old-fashioned. Similar: awfully, terribly, dreadfully — all can mean simply «very».

## On Mova

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