Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

horribly

/ˈhɔɹəbli/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.49 in modern English

Syllables: hor-ri-bly
IPA: /ˈhɔɹəbli/

16

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

adv

In a horrible way; very badly.

adv

To an extreme degree or extent.

adv

With a very bad effect.

Example Sentences

"The beginning art students displayed their horribly executed paintings with hopeful faces."
"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."
"Then everything went horribly wrong."
"The man was horribly nice, yet she still wouldn't marry him."
"Horribly, as he was dying, his eyes reddened."

Etymology

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

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: horribly

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈhɔɹəbli/
British English: /ˈhɒɹɪbli/

Inflected Forms

more horribly (comparative) most horribly (superlative)

Phrases

go horribly right

Synonyms

dreadfully frightfully grisly horrifyingly terribly terrifyingly very horrendously awfully

Questions

How do you pronounce horribly?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈhɔɹəbli/.
What does horribly mean?: In a horrible way; very badly.
Where does horribly come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce horribly

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “horribly”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈhɔɹəbli/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “horribly”.
Repeat and practice — Say “horribly” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.