as in extremely
to a great degree
I'm awfully sorry
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Recent Examples of awfully
That’s an awfully tough argument to make these days.
—
Sean McIndoe, New York Times, 26 Jan. 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
Purdy runs for his life The Seahawks made things awfully difficult on quarterback Brock Purdy, who spent much of his night trying to avoid getting sacked by Seattle’s talented defensive front that was among the NFL’s best throughout the season.
—Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 18 Jan. 2026
The implication was that language is reliable, consistent, and predictable, which is awfully boring—and dangerous.
—Julia Fisher, The Atlantic, 17 Jan. 2026
Since the literary adaptation won the TIFF People’s Choice Award in September, its buzz had gotten awfully quiet.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 12 Jan. 2026
Robby—The Pitt executive producer, writer, director, and star Noah Wyle’s instantly iconic attending physician—is leading his final shift before a three-month leave that sounds like an awfully good idea following his meltdown last season.
—Judy Berman, Time, 8 Jan. 2026
However, officials went to the scorer’s table to review the play, which was awfully close.
—Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 7 Jan. 2026
Sean McIndoe, New York Times, 26 Jan. 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
Purdy runs for his life The Seahawks made things awfully difficult on quarterback Brock Purdy, who spent much of his night trying to avoid getting sacked by Seattle’s talented defensive front that was among the NFL’s best throughout the season.
—Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 18 Jan. 2026
The implication was that language is reliable, consistent, and predictable, which is awfully boring—and dangerous.
—Julia Fisher, The Atlantic, 17 Jan. 2026
Since the literary adaptation won the TIFF People’s Choice Award in September, its buzz had gotten awfully quiet.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 12 Jan. 2026
Robby—The Pitt executive producer, writer, director, and star Noah Wyle’s instantly iconic attending physician—is leading his final shift before a three-month leave that sounds like an awfully good idea following his meltdown last season.
—Judy Berman, Time, 8 Jan. 2026
However, officials went to the scorer’s table to review the play, which was awfully close.
—Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 7 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for awfully
Adverb
-
Where these winds coincide with heavy snow, blizzard conditions are possible, with near-zero visibility and extremely dangerous travel, particularly along the Outer Banks of North Carolina and into southeast Virginia.—
Briana Waxman,
CNN Money,
30 Jan. 2026
-
Therefore, telling the story in graphic form on behalf of Ukrainians themselves, explaining the preconditions for Russia’s attempts to erase Ukraine as a sovereign country and Ukrainians as an ethnic group, became extremely relevant.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
Tucked in among all of the many things that Pep Guardiola has got off his chest about referees over the past couple of weeks was a very small detail that might explain an awful lot.—
Sam Lee,
New York Times,
31 Jan. 2026
-
Yes, there's a very pretty swath of sand leading to the Atlantic Ocean, where lifeguards keep watch every day of the year.—
Beth Luberecki,
USA Today,
31 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
The problem being that Bungie has another game, Destiny 2, that players have invested in for a decade now, at Bungie is not being terribly forthcoming about what’s coming as of yet.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
30 Jan. 2026
-
Bart Layton made his feature debut in 2018 with American Animals, a great hybrid true-crime story that used doc techniques to tell the story of a supposedly victimless art heist that went terribly wrong.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
29 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
That’s where going to space becomes incredibly effective.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
4 Feb. 2026
-
The silicone prosthetics were incredibly thin, which meant that putting a ring through them could rip them if they were accidentally tugged or pulled too hard.—
Sophia Panych,
Allure,
3 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
The total rate that the perihelion advanced by was 5600 arc-seconds per century, and that rate was a little bit too much for Newtonian gravity.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
5 Feb. 2026
-
China has economic leverage over Panama, too.—
Simone McCarthy,
CNN Money,
5 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
With many investors seeing Warsh as a highly credible pick, markets had little reaction to Friday’s news.—
Eleanor Mueller,
semafor.com,
31 Jan. 2026
-
Nacua and Hallie Aiono were in a long-term relationship before a highly public breakup.—
Ryan Canfield,
FOXNews.com,
31 Jan. 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
-
That all plays really badly with the people at whom it is aimed.—
Fiction Non Fiction,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Seven Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing the measure, underscoring how badly Republicans would need Democrats to overcome the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster.—
Garrett Downs,
CNBC,
29 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Awfully.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/awfully. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.
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