as in extremely
to a great degree
I'm awfully sorry
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Recent Examples of awfully
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
Don’t know about you, Sean Payton, but I’d be awfully tempted to run the dang ball Sunday.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 23 Jan. 2026
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
Don’t know about you, Sean Payton, but I’d be awfully tempted to run the dang ball Sunday.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 23 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for awfully
Adverb
-
Today any surface that has a coating, any device that uses stacks of extremely thin films — television screens, cell phone screens and the microchips inside — can be traced back to Katharine, repeatedly dipping a metal plate in a trough of water.—
Natalia Sánchez Loayza,
Scientific American,
26 Feb. 2026
-
Wlazlo is extremely driven and results-oriented, Tessaro said.—
Brian Womack,
Dallas Morning News,
26 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
Tel Aviv, Israel — Undermining this moment of relief for many repressed Iranians is that killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is a perilously simple fix to a very complex problem.—
Nick Paton Walsh,
CNN Money,
1 Mar. 2026
-
The Innova 5610 is very capable and has decent price.—
Hartford Courant,
Hartford Courant,
28 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
But all of this rapturous gazing made up a terribly small fraction of the experience of being a parent.—
Daniel Smith,
The Atlantic,
27 Feb. 2026
-
But the arguments that AI will take over tasks and that will allow people to be more fully human is terribly mistaken and overtly hubristic.—
Caleb Harris,
Austin American Statesman,
26 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
Meanwhile, close to 300,000 households were in the dark at the peak of the storm amid incredibly strong winds on Monday, and it’s expected to take days for many to get power back.—
Rick Sobey,
Boston Herald,
24 Feb. 2026
-
Fentanyl is an incredibly potent synthetic opioid that can be fatal in very small doses.—
Clara Harter,
Los Angeles Times,
24 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
The Legislature and Newsom acted when the low reading skills of California’s kids, as determined by nationwide testing, became too obvious to ignore.—
Dan Walters,
Oc Register,
26 Feb. 2026
-
Marlana McElvaine’s family thinks so, too.—
Elise Hammond,
CNN Money,
26 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
Vector control districts in Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties have confirmed a significant increase in mosquito activity, which is highly unusual for this time of the year.—
Karen Garcia,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Feb. 2026
-
His aspirations, after a highly successful season, could be among the highest in the NFL.—
Joseph Hoyt,
Dallas Morning News,
28 Feb. 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
-
While Sanchez struggled badly for Houston, left in free agency and signed with Toronto, the Marlins have three players who could amount to something from that deal.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
26 Feb. 2026
-
And Eric was hit, very badly, in the leg and hip, one bullet after another.—
Dallas Morning News,
Dallas Morning News,
25 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Awfully.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/awfully. Accessed 1 Mar. 2026.
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