Meanings
comparative more horribly · superlative most horribly
- mannerIn a horrible way; very badly.
The beginning art students displayed their horribly executed paintings with hopeful faces.
1 more example
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.
2020 January 2, David Brooks, “A Ridiculously Optimistic History of the Next Decade”, in The New York TimesSynonyms: dreadfully, frightfully, grisly, horrifyingly, terribly, terrifyingly
- oftendegreeTo an extreme degree or extent.
Then everything went horribly wrong.
1 more example
The man was horribly nice, yet she still wouldn't marry him.
Synonyms: very, horrendously, terribly, awfully
- evaluativeWith a very bad effect.
Horribly, as he was dying, his eyes reddened.
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbIn a horrible way; very badly.
adverbTo an extreme degree or extent.
More synonyms by meaning
adverbof a dreadful kind
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishhorribly
- Englishhorribly
From Middle English horribly, horribely, horribliche, horriblelyche, equivalent to horrible + -ly.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek αἰνῶς
- αἰνῶς (ainôs)in a horrible way
Catalan horriblement
- horriblementin a horrible way
Czech hrozně, hrozně
- hrozněin a horrible way
- hrozněextremely
Esperanto horore, terure
- hororein a horrible way
- terureextremely
Finnish kammottavasti, kauhean
- kammottavastiin a horrible way
- kauheanextremely
- kauheastiextremely
- kammottavastiwith a bad effect
French horriblement, horriblement
- horriblementin a horrible way
- horriblementextremely
- horriblementwith a bad effect
German fürchterlich
- fürchterlichin a horrible way
Italian orribilmente
- orribilmentein a horrible way
Polish okropnie, strasznie
- okropniein a horrible way
- straszniein a horrible way
- okropnieextremely
- strasznieextremely
Portuguese horrivelmente
- horrivelmentein a horrible way
Russian ужа́сно, стра́шно
- ужа́сно (užásno)in a horrible way
- стра́шно (strášno)in a horrible way
- ужа́сно (užásno)extremely
- стра́шно (strášno)extremely
- ужа́сно (užásno)with a bad effect
- стра́шно (strášno)with a bad effect
Spanish horriblemente
- horriblementein a horrible way
Turkish berbatça
- berbatçain a horrible way
Cite this entry
horribly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/horribly
“horribly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/horribly. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “horribly,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/horribly.
Source: horribly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.