as in extremely
to a great degree
I'm awfully sorry
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Recent Examples of awfully
But the combination of naked ambition, absence of cynicism, and a sunny disposition seemed awfully suspicious.
—
Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 3 Mar. 2026
The dollars per share can be awfully confusing.
—Brian Welk, IndieWire, 27 Feb. 2026
Motta reluctantly agreed to be Bernie Bickerstaff’s top assistant, and to teach the Nuggets his offense — and the $300,000 salary looked awfully good.
—Brad Townsend, Dallas Morning News, 26 Feb. 2026
And Sweden came awfully close against the United States.
—Chris Pronger, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2026
The new club opening in Fort Worth is in an awfully competitive landscape.
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 Feb. 2026
That last part can be awfully hard to do.
—Diane Brady, Fortune, 6 Feb. 2026
With so many decisions to make, the Chiefs would have to get awfully creative to extend cornerback Trent McDuffie (who is entering the final year of his contract), which is why his name has floated in trade hypotheticals.
—Pete Sweeney, Kansas City Star, 5 Feb. 2026
Though his metaphors are awfully on the nose, Chiarella convincingly insists on their power.
—Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 24 Jan. 2026
Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 3 Mar. 2026
The dollars per share can be awfully confusing.
—Brian Welk, IndieWire, 27 Feb. 2026
Motta reluctantly agreed to be Bernie Bickerstaff’s top assistant, and to teach the Nuggets his offense — and the $300,000 salary looked awfully good.
—Brad Townsend, Dallas Morning News, 26 Feb. 2026
And Sweden came awfully close against the United States.
—Chris Pronger, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2026
The new club opening in Fort Worth is in an awfully competitive landscape.
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 Feb. 2026
That last part can be awfully hard to do.
—Diane Brady, Fortune, 6 Feb. 2026
With so many decisions to make, the Chiefs would have to get awfully creative to extend cornerback Trent McDuffie (who is entering the final year of his contract), which is why his name has floated in trade hypotheticals.
—Pete Sweeney, Kansas City Star, 5 Feb. 2026
Though his metaphors are awfully on the nose, Chiarella convincingly insists on their power.
—Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 24 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for awfully
Adverb
-
To gather the critical data, researchers used the James Webb Space Telescope’s unique ability to detect extremely faint objects.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
6 Mar. 2026
-
Known for its extremely rough waters and rocky coastline, this remote section of the Namibian coast is not meant for sunbathers or scuba divers.—
Melanie van Zyl,
Travel + Leisure,
6 Mar. 2026
Adverb
-
Physicists hunting for new superconductors often look for a very specific shape hidden in their data—a dome.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
8 Mar. 2026
-
Now, both teams head to the Big Ten tournament with opposite momentum and very different stakes, though any number of wins for UCLA can’t hurt its seeding come Selection Sunday.—
Sean Campbell,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Mar. 2026
Adverb
-
In a world gone terribly wrong and sideways, humanity survives.—
Chris Gardner,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Mar. 2026
-
If that version of the fable hasn’t aged terribly well, an item in The Wall Street Journal this week elicited a few nervous squeals from some the NFL’s TV partners.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
6 Mar. 2026
Adverb
-
Advertisement The stakes were incredibly high as both parties confronted questions about identity, Trumpism, Texas’ soul, and, yes, electability.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
4 Mar. 2026
-
Indeed, the simple enough ad campaign — which sees Kidman saunter in from the rain to walk up and down the aisles of an empty theater, reciting some incredibly memorable dialogue — went out into the world and made its mark.—
Shania Russell,
Entertainment Weekly,
3 Mar. 2026
Adverb
-
Oh no, the masters of the algorithm know us too well.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Mar. 2026
-
This can be a big job; generally, trees more than 8 inches in diameter at the base are too heavy to remove by oneself.—
Daniel Scott,
Better Homes & Gardens,
5 Mar. 2026
Adverb
-
Outhouse is one of three highly respected defensive backs at North Crowley.—
Charles Baggarly,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
7 Mar. 2026
-
Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Phoenix, Arizona, followed in the top three, with Florida cities like Tampa also ranking highly for pet travel.—
Stacey Leasca,
Travel + Leisure,
7 Mar. 2026
Adverb
-
And damned if Love isn’t willing to talk, sometimes candidly and other times in maddeningly vague terms, about all the hell she’s gone through to get to right now.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
28 Jan. 2026
-
Jeff looks at things very straightforwardly and is damned fearless, right?—
Fortune Editors,
Fortune,
22 Oct. 2025
Adverb
-
Mohammad and one of his sons, who was a Lebanese soldier, were killed, while the other was badly hurt.—
Justin Salhani,
The Dial,
5 Mar. 2026
-
Getting a stopper was something the team badly needed.—
Dom Luszczyszyn,
New York Times,
5 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Awfully.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/awfully. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.
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