dreadfully

adverb (dreadfully)

«dreadfully» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

Everyday

Very; extremely: «I'm dreadfully sorry.» tree →
Very badly: «The team played dreadfully.» tree →

In the lessons

In old British books such as Alice in Wonderland, «dreadfully» is often used for «very»: Alice was «dreadfully puzzled» and «dreadfully frightened». It sounds polite and a little old-fashioned. In everyday talk «dreadfully» can also mean in a very bad way.

Examples

I'm dreadfully sorry about the window. tree →
Alice was dreadfully puzzled by the Hatter's remark. tree →
The play went dreadfully — everyone forgot their lines. tree →
It was dreadfully cold in the castle. tree →
She missed her family dreadfully. tree →
Mole was dreadfully frightened in the Wild Wood. tree →
It certainly was a dreadfully hard frost. tree →

Note

Adverb of dreadful (very bad; terrible). Spelling: dreadful + ly — two l's. Similar: awfully, terribly, very.

On Mova

Trees and pragmatics of «dreadfully» in the school dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
«dreadfully» in the school dictionary on Mova free.

This page in Markdown → https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/dreadfully/