distressfully

comparative more distressfully · superlative most distressfully

1. In a distressful way; showing distress

   "I know it is," she sighed, distressfully re-reading it.

   1923, Elizabeth Bowen, “The Evil that Men do-”, in Encounters, page 171

   3 more examples

   [4] And while such an one is ploughing distressfully up the road, it is not hard to understand his resentment, when he perceives cool persons in the meadows by the wayside, lying with a handkerchief over their ears and a glass at their elbow.

   1877, Robert Louis Stevenson, “An Apology for Idlers”, in Essays of Robert Louis Stevenson

   Oh, I don't understand you at all," Lydia said distressfully.

   1910, Grace MacGowan Cooke, The Power and the Glory

   "Perhaps an hour and a half passed, quietly, except when, once in a way, the dogs would whine distressfully.

   1912, William Hope Hodgson, Carnacki, The Ghost Finder