horribly

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈhɔrəbli/ UK /ˈhɒrəbli/ See IPA manual

adv

Meanings

1

adv
in a way that causes horror or to a very unpleasant degree

The plan went horribly wrong almost from the start.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adv · in a way that causes horror... dreadfully terribly appallingly frightfully awfully ghastly

Opposites

wonderfully delightfully pleasantly

Word family

Related forms horrible horror horrid

Etymology

From horrible + -ly; horrible comes via Old French from Latin horribilis ('dreadful'), from horrēre ('to bristle, shudder').

horribilis Latin horrēre Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

# horribly

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adv
**IPA (US):** ˈhɔrəbli
**IPA (UK):** ˈhɒrəbli

## Meanings
1. in a way that causes horror or to a very unpleasant degree

## Examples
- The plan went horribly wrong almost from the start.

## Synonyms
- dreadfully
- terribly
- appallingly
- frightfully
- awfully
- ghastly

## Antonyms
- wonderfully
- delightfully
- pleasantly

## Related Forms
- horrible
- horror
- horrid

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: horribilis
- Root: horrēre

## Etymology
From horrible + -ly; horrible comes via Old French from Latin horribilis ('dreadful'), from horrēre ('to bristle, shudder').

## AI Etymology
horribly comes from horrible + -ly; horrible comes via Old French from Latin horribilis ('dreadful'), from horrēre ('to bristle, shudder'). Morphologically, the ending is part of the etymology: the suffix is attached to the older base named in the history, producing a later English derivative. In present English, the adverb sense is "in a way that causes horror or to a very unpleasant degree", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as horrible, horror, and horrid. Its semantic neighborhood includes dreadfully, terribly, appallingly, and frightfully, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Latin horribilis and Latin horrēre.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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horribly

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