dramatically

D2R1A1M3A1T1I1C3A1L1L1Y4

adverb

In a dramatic manner.

CommonScrabble 20

Meanings

adverbdramatically (comparative more dramatically, superlative most dramatically)

comparative more dramatically · superlative most dramatically

  1. In a dramatic manner.

    But ever since the concept of "hamartia" recurred through Aristotle's Poetics, in an attempt to describe man's ingrained iniquity, our impulse has been to identify a telling defect in those brought suddenly and dramatically low.

    2014 October 21, Oliver Brown, “Oscar Pistorius jailed for five years – sport afforded no protection against his tragic fallibilities: Bladerunner's punishment for killing Reeva Steenkamp is but a frippery when set against the burden that her bereft parents, June and Barry, must carry [print version: No room for sentimentality in this tragedy, 13 September 2014, p. S22]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Sport), archived from the original on 21 Oct 2014
    3 more examples

    “H'm !” he said, “so, so—it is a tragedy in a prologue and three acts. I am going down this afternoon to see the curtain fall for the third time on what […] will prove a good burlesque ; but it all began dramatically enough. It was last Saturday […] that two boys, playing in the little spinney just outside Wembley Park Station, came across three large parcels done up in American cloth. […]”

    1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Lisson Grove Mystery”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020

    The legend which in one or other of these versions the Marindineeze tell to account for the origin of the human species is said to be represented dramatically by them at the mysteries or rites of initiation which they celebrate every year […] Thus the story that the bird picked the first human beings from the water in the likeness of fish and threw them on the beach, is acted by an initiated man who comes hopping along on two sticks, picks up the novices one by one and throws them into the sacred enclosure.

    1918, James George Frazer, Folk-Lore In The Old Testament, volume 1, page 39

    Far from it: direct military intervention by a Western state – even if Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is requesting it – would dramatically worsen the situation, and ISIS, contrary to what pro-interventionists might say, would inevitably come out on top.

    2014 June 20, Charlie Cooper, “Why the West must ignore Iraq’s pleas for military intervention”, in CNN, archived from the original on 25 Aug 2014

Synonyms & antonyms

adverbin a dramatic manner

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekδράω (dráō)
  2. Ancient Greekδρᾶμα (drâma)
  3. Ancient Greekδρᾱμᾰτῐκός (drāmătĭkós)
  4. Latindrāmaticu
  5. Englishdramatic
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  8. Proto-Indo-European*leyg-
  9. Proto-Germanic*līką
  10. Englishdramatically

From dramatic + -ally.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan dramàticament
  • dramàticamentin a dramatic manner
Finnish dramaattisesti, draamallisesti
  • dramaattisestiin a dramatic manner
  • draamallisestiin a dramatic manner
Greek δραματικά
  • δραματικά (dramatiká)in a dramatic manner
Italian drammaticamente, sensazionalmente
  • drammaticamentein a dramatic manner
  • sensazionalmentein a dramatic manner
  • chiaramentein a dramatic manner
  • enormementein a dramatic manner
  • decisamentein a dramatic manner
  • drasticamentein a dramatic manner
Polish dramatycznie
  • dramatyczniein a dramatic manner
Portuguese dramaticamente
  • dramaticamentein a dramatic manner
Romanian dramatic
  • dramaticin a dramatic manner
Spanish dramáticamente
  • dramáticamentein a dramatic manner
Swedish dramatiskt
  • dramatisktin a dramatic manner
Cite this entry
APA

dramatically. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dramatically

MLA

“dramatically.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dramatically. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dramatically,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dramatically.

Source: dramatically on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.