dreadfully
/ˈdɹɛd.fʊl.i/adverb
dreadfully is spelled D-R-E-A-D-F-U-L-L-Y: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 41,660th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, dreadfully means “In a dreadful manner; terribly” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in dreadfully?
| Letters | 10: D-R-E-A-D-F-U-L-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 41,660th 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 dreadfully?
Dreadfully appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 41,660th 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 dreadfully?
- /ˈdɹɛd.fʊl.i/
Dreadfully has 3 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-dreadfully.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of dreadfully
- more dreadfully comparative
- most dreadfully superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dreadfully mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
In a dreadful manner; terribly.
You behaved dreadfully yesterday night
- 2
datedExceptionally, eminently, very much.
That restaurant seems dreadfully expensive.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Dreadfully in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense in a dreadful manner:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | terriblement |
| German | furchtbar |
| Portuguese | terrivelmente |
| Spanish | pavorosamente, empavorecientemente, despavorientemente |
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 dreadfully come from?
Inherited from Middle English dredfully, dradefullich, dredefullich; equivalent to dreadful + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).