AH-flee
/ˈɑfli/
awfully is pronounced AH-flee (/ˈɑfli/). Awfully is an adverb meaning to a great extent or extremely; in informal use it can soften or intensify a statement, often implying negative emphasis (e.g., awfully tired). It can also describe something very bad, but in American speech it frequently functions as intensifier rather than a modifier of degree. The core sense is strong degree, with colloquial nuance depending on context and intonation.
Awfully is an adverb meaning to a great extent or extremely; in informal use it can soften or intensify a statement, often implying negative emphasis (e.g., awfully tired). It can also describe something very bad, but in American speech it frequently functions as intensifier rather than a modifier of degree. The core sense is strong degree, with colloquial nuance depending on context and intonation.
- You may drop the first syllable stress in fast speech, saying something like /ˈæfli/; ensure you maintain primary stress on the first syllable /ˈɔː/ to avoid a weak form. - Overemphasize the ending, pronouncing it as /-liː/ or adding extra vowel length; keep final /li/ light and quick. - In connected speech, the /ɔː/ may reduce to /ɔ/ in some dialects; practice keeping it long enough to distinguish from /æf/ by using a deliberate mouth opening on the first vowel.
"She felt awfully tired after the long flight."
"The weather turned awfully chilly by late afternoon."
"That movie was awfully disappointing, not what I expected."
Pronounce it as /ˈɔːfəli/ in US, /ˈɔːfəli/ in UK, and /ˈɒːfəli/ in Australian variants. The primary stress falls on the first syllable: 'AW-ful-ly'. Start with an open-mid back vowel for the first sound, then a light /f/ followed by a schwa or reduced /ə/ in the second syllable, and end with a clear /li/.
Common errors include misplacing stress (speaking as /əˈwɔfli/ or spreading stress across syllables), and mispronouncing the first vowel as a short /ɒ/ or /æ/. Correct by ensuring primary stress on the first syllable and using /ɔː/ as in 'thought' for the first vowel. Keep the /f/ unvoiced and crisp, and finish with a light /li/ rather than a silent or heavy 'ly' ending.
In US English you’ll hear /ˈɔːfəli/ with a full /ɔː/ and a rhotic American vowel quality; UK English often uses a similar /ˈɔːfəli/ but with less rhoticity and slightly drier consonants; Australian tends toward a broader /ɒː/ or /ɔː/ depending on speaker, with less vowel rounding and a softer /l/ realization. The final syllable /-li/ remains light and unstressed. IPA references help you spot subtle shifts in vowel height and rhoticity across regions.
The difficulty lies in balancing the strong initial vowel with a fast, light mid syllable and the final /li/ cluster, all while maintaining natural rhythm. Learners often flatten the first vowel into a short /ɔ/ or stretch it too long, and may mispronounce the final /li/ as /liː/ or /lɪ/. Focus on the clear /ɔː/ first, keep /f/ crisp, and end softly with a reduced, quick /li/ to sound native.
No; in standard pronunciation the 'l' is not silent. The final syllable '-ly' contributes the /l/ and /i/ sounds, even in fast speech where the /i/ may be reduced to a schwa in many dialects, e.g., /ˈɔːfəli/ with a short, lightly pronounced 'lee' ending. The l remains audible as part of the /li/ sequence, which helps preserve the word’s integrity in connected speech.
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- US: maintain rhotic vowel quality and a clear, though not exaggerated, first syllable; canonical form /ˈɔːfəli/ with a pronounced /ɔː/ and light final /li/. - UK: similar first vowel, but you may encounter less vowel length and softer /r/ absence; keep /ɔː/ long and the /f/ crisp. - AU: vary between /ˈɒːfəli/ and /ˈɔːfəli/, often with a wider mouth opening on the first vowel; keep rhoticity non-existent and the final /li/ lightly pronounced. - In all accents, aim for a steady, light secondary stress on the middle syllable (if any) and avoid rushing the final /li/.
Awfully derives from the adjective awful, which originally meant ‘inspiring awe or fear’ and later came to mean ‘shockingly bad or marvelous’ in different periods of English. The adverbial form awfully appeared in Middle English and evolved alongside reductions in pronunciation and shifts in negation; by the 18th and 19th centuries, awfully was commonly used as an intensity marker for adjectives and verbs. The semantic drift from ‘inspiring awe’ to ‘very great in degree’ mirrors broader changes in the English lexicon where positive or negative valence fused with degree modifiers. Over time, awfully retained its intensifier function even as other intensifiers emerged. First known uses appear in texts from the early modern period, with standardized spellings stabilizing in print by the 19th century. In contemporary usage, awfully often conveys strong emotion (surprise, annoyance) and can carry regional tonalities, particularly in American English where it frequently acts as a blunt exaggerator.
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Words that rhyme with "awfully"
-lly sounds
-ly' sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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