1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

naughtily

adverb

Definition of naughtilynext
as in awfully

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of naughtily The outsize failings of the men in power demand a grand reimagining of the consequences of those failings, and Helen of Nowhere offers up, exhilaratingly and naughtily, a myth for the man who needs to be shuffled offstage one way or another. — Literary Hub, 18 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for naughtily
  1. awfully
  2. dreadfully
  3. terribly
  4. horribly
  5. disastrously
  6. atrociously
  7. horrendously
  8. insufficiently
Adverb
  • So Tesla was claiming to get awfully close to that, match its top speed of about 256 mph (412 km/h), and deliver 621 miles (1,000 km) of range for a tenth of the price.
    — Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Or else, things will start looking awfully familiar around here again on defense.
    — Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of awfully
Adverb
  • Although Yamaha has been dreadfully slow about bringing its motorcycles to India, the R2 made its global debut there this week.
    — Yamaha, New Atlas, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Made from 100 percent cotton, this lightweight number is extremely soft and a great option for dreadfully hot days.
    — Caroline Hughes, Travel + Leisure, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of dreadfully
Adverb
  • Though Lock and Fleury aren’t Darnold and Kubiak, Wednesday night’s game demonstrated that Seattle is not interested in making terribly many overarching changes from last year’s general offensive approach.
    — Andrew Destin, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
  • The other might be the terribly limited prospects of people like Miguelito living in Chivilcoy, a town outside Buenos Aires, where the two latter parts of the film is set.
    — Roberto Prieto, Variety, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of terribly
Adverb
  • Iryna Rybakova is horribly aware that the front line is inching toward Kramatorsk.
    — Ivana Kottasová, CNN Money, 9 Sep. 2026
  • The show was also horribly paced, with way too many pointless instrumental spotlights that somehow managed to come across as both showy and lethargic at the same time.
    — Jim Harrington, Mercury News, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of horribly
Adverb
  • In Omelet from the Other Side, ten-year-old Florence Fortescue’s life is disastrously upended when her parents move the family from an exciting city apartment to a boring farmhouse in the country.
    — Caroline Carlson, Literary Hub, 1 Sep. 2026
  • However, enforcement – both statewide and nationally – is disastrously underresourced.
    — David Michaels, The Conversation, 18 June 2026
Definition of disastrously
Adverb
  • That pattern stayed broadly consistent last season, when Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur’s goalkeepers performed badly, but not atrociously.
    — Michael Cox, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of atrociously
Adverb
  • The less said about Bryan’s horrendously gauche fuchsia-and-gold dress with puffy armholes and halter neck the better.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 31 July 2026
  • Too little regulation could allow the unleashing of devilish AI that might wipe us out or at least be horrendously destructive.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026
Definition of horrendously
Adverb
  • Or… 2) Miami is insufficiently impressed and spends its likely very high 2027 first-round draft pick on a QB with the clear intent for the rookie to soon replace Willis.
    — Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Especially exciting to him was the German student movement, which combined support for liberation across the non-Western world with attacks on what the students considered the suffocating (and still insufficiently de-Nazified) Federal Republic.
    — Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of insufficiently

Browse Nearby Words

naught
naughtily
naughtiness
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Naughtily.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/naughtily. Accessed 17 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of watershed

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
funny guinea pig in glasses reading a book
Challenging Words You Should Know Vol 2 Words to the wise
See All