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.
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
“When you get such interesting and amusing film roles, it doesn’t seem dreadfully exciting to be in the 257th revival of ‘The Rivals,’” she said.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 17, 2025
The BBC approached Michael Ward at the Harrods headquarters and he said: "I am very dreadfully sorry for what has happened with Al Fayed."
From BBC • Nov. 8, 2024
United started dreadfully and went into a rapid decline, somehow surviving until half-time as Spurs carved them open on countless occasions but could not add a second.
From BBC • Sep. 29, 2024
They learned that this son would be dreadfully unlucky.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
