释义 |
woefully, adv.|ˈwəʊfʊlɪ| Also wofully. [f. woeful + -ly2.] 1. In a woeful manner or condition; miserably, grievously; mournfully, sadly. arch.
1390Gower Conf. I. 198, I am A womman wofully bestad. Ibid. 267 Whan thei herde Hou wofully this cause ferde. c1480Henryson Trial of Fox 275 The Ȝow..Put out hir playnt on this wyis wofullie. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 302 b, As thou were so wofully arayed. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. v. 33 Where many soules sit wailing woefully. 16..Middleton, etc. Old Law v. i, These that do lead this day of jollity Doe march with Musick..Those that doe follow sad, and wofully. a1656Bp. Hall Specialities Life Rem. Wks. (1660) 35 That wofully distracted Church. 1751Smollett Per. Pic. cxiii. [cv], I know..what makes you laugh so woefully. 1865Trollope Belton Est. xiii, ‘I suppose she thinks so of me,’ said Belton wofully. 1876Swinburne Erechtheus 570 Wofully wed in a snow strewn bed. 2. So as to excite commiseration or dissatisfaction; grievously, deplorably, ‘sadly’. Occas. as a mere intensive: cf. awfully, terribly.
1648W. Jenkyn Blind Guide iii. 58 You say but very little..but in that little you wofully trifle. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xxiv, Thou hast once wofully, irreparably deceived me. 1831James Phil. Augustus xix, Of defensive armour the supply was wofully small. 1843Peter Parley's Ann. IV. 266 Mrs. Clinker, who was wofully, as she termed it, fond of pigs. 1885Truth 11 June 928/1 The other exhibits are..wofully bad, and deplorably uninteresting. |