awfully
/ˈɔː.fʊ.li/adverb
awfully is spelled A-W-F-U-L-L-Y: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.6 times per million words in written English, the 16,896th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, awfully means “Badly, terribly” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in awfully?
| Letters | 7: A-W-F-U-L-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.6 times per million words; the 16,896th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is awfully?
Awfully appears 2.6 times per million words in written English, the 16,896th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce awfully?
- UK /ˈɔː.fʊ.li/
- UK /ˈɔː.fə.li/
- UK /ˈɔː.fli/
Awfully has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-awfully.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of awfully
- more awfully comparative
- most awfully superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does awfully mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
Badly, terribly.
She led after the swimming and cycling, but ran awfully and came in fourth.
- 2
Very; exceedingly; extremely; excessively.
- 3
archaicIn a manner inspiring awe.
- 4
archaicReverently.
- 5
obsoleteFearfully.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Awfully in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense in an awe-inspiring manner:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | asombroso |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does awfully come from?
From awful + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).