Angrily means with a display of anger or irritation, often characterized by a sharp, forceful or heated manner of speaking. It conveys emotion through tone, pace, and intensity, rather than content alone. The word modifies verbs to describe the manner of action, as in speaking angrily or acting angrily.
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US: clear, rhotic /ɹ/ influence, more pronounced /æ/ and crisper /ɡ/; UK: often more clipped, less pronounced rhoticity, /ɹ/ softer; AU: tends to a approached but still visible rhotic influence with slightly laxer vowels. IPA references: US /ˈæŋ.ɡrə.li/, UK /ˈæŋ.ɡrə.li/, AU /ˈæŋ.ɡrə.li/. Focus on keeping /æ/ bright, /ɡ/ hard, /r/ controlled if pronounced, and final /li/ as a bright syllable.
"She spoke angrily to the waiter after realizing her mistake."
"The coach gestured angrily, but calmly explained the rules."
"He muttered angrily under his breath when the plan fell through."
"They argued angrily, yet eventually found a compromise."
Angrily comes from the combination of the root adjective angry, which derives from Old Norse angr- meaning distress, grief, or vexation, and the suffix -ily, which turns adjectives into adverbs indicating manner. The -ly ending entered English from Old English and Middle English as a productive adverbial suffix to describe how an action is performed. The word angry itself traces to Old English angor (distress, grief) and Proto-Germanic *anguz, with related forms in Norse languages reflecting emotional states. Over time, angrily settled into common usage in narrative and dialogue to convey an emotional, performative quality of speech and action. Early attestations appear in 16th–17th century texts, and by the 18th century it had become a standard adverbial modifier describing the manner of speaking or acting, distinct from merely “angry.” It evolved alongside other -ly adverbs, retaining a strong emphasis on emotional valence and intensity in description. First known use as an adverb in modern English press and literature aligns with the general expansion of expressive adverbs during the Early Modern English period, when writers increasingly relied on precise adverbial modifiers to convey tone and attitude in dialogue and narration.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "angrily" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "angrily" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "angrily"
-gly sounds
-tly sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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Angrily is pronounced /ˈæŋ.ɡrə.li/ in US and UK English, with primary stress on the first syllable. The /æŋ/ combines a low-front vowel with a velar nasal, followed by /ɡrə/ where the /ɡ/ is a hard stop and /r/ is a rhotic approximant in most dialects, then /li/ as a light, clear syllable. In fluent speech you’ll hear a quick, somewhat reduced middle /ɡrə/ but keep the final /li/ crisp.
Common mistakes include misplacing stress (saying an-GRIL-y instead of ANG-ri-ly), softening the /g/ so it becomes /dʒ/ or /dʒə/ (pronouncing /ɡ/ as /dʒ/ is a frequent error), and losing the /l/ leading to /ˈæŋ.ɡrə.i/. To correct: keep primary stress on the first syllable, articulate the /ɡ/ as a clear stop before /r/, and enunciate the final /li/ as /li/ rather than a reduced vowel. Practice by isolating the /æ/ and /ɡ/ labor to ensure crisp consonants.
In US and UK, you’ll retain the /æ/ in the first vowel and a hard /g/, with rhotic /r/ consonant influencing the /ɡrə/ sequence. US rhotics pronounce the /r/ clearly in the /ɡrə/ cluster; UK non-rhotic speech may soft-pedal the /r/ or skip it; AU tends toward a rhotic-ish but often lighter /r/ with clear /l/ at the end. Expect slight vowel sharpening or flattening in US vs UK—US tends to a more pronounced /æ/ and a crisp /ɡ/ followed by /rə.li/; UK can be a touch more clipped.
The difficulty lies in the consonant cluster /ɡr/ immediately before a rhotic or near-rhotic /r/ sound, which requires precise tongue coordination to avoid a blurred blend. The middle syllable /rə/ can drift into schwa or a reduced vowel in fast speech, and the final /li/ demands a crisp release. Additionally, the initial /æŋ/ requires maintaining ideal tongue height while avoiding nasalization, and the sequence /æŋ.ɡrə.li/ can confront learners with maintaining even syllable timing in connected speech.
Yes—emphasis on first syllable and the /ɡr/ blend. You’ll want to prevent the /ɡ/ from blending into /r/ into a /ɡr/ cluster that becomes a single affricate. Keep the final /li/ as a clean syllable rather than letting it drift into a light /lɪ/ or /li/. Practicing the separation of /æŋ/ and /ɡrə/ with a short pause before /li/ helps clarity in rapid speech.
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