English

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Etymology

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From Middle English horribly, horribely, horribliche, horriblelyche, equivalent to horrible +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

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Adverb

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horribly (comparative more horribly, superlative most horribly)

  1. (manner) In a horrible way; very badly.
    The beginning art students displayed their horribly executed paintings with hopeful faces.
    • 2020 January 2, David Brooks, “A Ridiculously Optimistic History of the Next Decade”, in The New York Times[1]:
      Looking back at the 2020s from our vantage point in 2030, the first great event was the complete destruction of Donald Trump’s Republican Party. As the former Republican consultant Mike Murphy had noticed, there were roughly 300 state and federal elections during the Trump years and Republicans did horribly in most of them.
  2. (degree, often modifying a negative adverb or adjective) To an extreme degree or extent.
    Then everything went horribly wrong.
    The man was horribly nice, yet she still wouldn't marry him.
  3. (evaluative) With a very bad effect.
    Horribly, as he was dying, his eyes reddened.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Collocations

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Translations

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