pestilentlyadv.
/ˈpɛstᵻləntli/, /ˈpɛstᵻln̩tli/, U.S. /ˈpɛstələn(t)li/ 1. In a pestilent manner; fatally; harmfully, perniciously. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > [adverb]
evilc1275
balefullya1375
harmfullyc1374
teenfullya1375
wickedlya1375
unsoundlyc1400
prejudicially1467
ill1483
mischievously1512
pestilently1528
badly1580
noisomely1589
infectiously1609
prejudiciously1614
evilly1631
damageably1648
deleteriously1657
disserviceablya1670
noxiously1755
injuriously1809
nocuously1847
damagingly1854
banefully1865
detrimentally1879
damnously1884
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > [adverb] > harmfully or perniciously
pestilently1528
perniciously1533
deleteriously1657
1528 W. Tyndale Obed. Christen Man f. lxij Wolde he spare..to allege & to wreste other doctours pestilently, which feareth not for to iugle with ye holy scripture?
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) I. 83/1 Some..hath most pestilently abused the authoritie of the holy and auncient fathers.
1594 T. Kyd tr. R. Garnier Cornelia ii So (pestilently) fraught with change of plagues, Is mine infected bosome from my youth.
1609 J. Davies Humours Heau'n on Earth 240 Enuy now, most pestilently stings!
1626 R. Bernard Isle of Man ii. 184 Couetousnesse and Idolatry, Capitall Theeues, pestilently mischieuous against God.
1731 T. Gordon tr. Tacitus Hist. i, in Wks. II. 5 Of all men the most pestilently wicked.
1784 H. Walpole Let. 28 Nov. in Rev. Eng. Stud. (1949) 25 237 Our race in general is pestilently bad and malevolent.
1875 Overland Monthly Dec. 587/1 It..pestilently flies home to roost and riot in the brain where it was hatched or housed.
1917 J. W. Scudder tr. W. Gansfort Farrago iii, in E. W. Miller & J. W. Scudder Wessel Gansfort II. 173 ‘It were better for him that..he were drowned in the depth of the sea’ rather than that he thus pestilently direct and corrupt his Rock.
1939 Times 16 Sept. 6/3 Two species of white butterfly..have been pestilently abundant this summer.
2. Intolerably, annoyingly; (as an intensifier) excessively, confoundedly, terribly. Cf. pestilent adj. 4. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > extremely or exceedingly > specifically of something bad
sorea1300
grievously1340
terrible1490
beastly?1518
shrewdlyc1533
arrantly?1548
murrainly?1548
abominablea1550
pestilence1567
pestilently1567
cursedly1570
pestiferously1570
murrain1575
plaguey1584
plaguilya1586
grievous1598
scandalously1602
horridly1603
terribly1604
monstrously1611
hellish1614
dreadfullya1616
horrid1615
pestilenta1616
infernally1638
preposterously1661
woeful1684
confoundedly1694
confounded1709
glaringly1709
cursed1719
flagrantly1756
weary1790
disgustingly1804
filthy1827
blamed1833
peskily1833
pesky1833
blame1843
blasted1854
wickedly1858
blatantly1878
shamelessly1885
disgracefully1893
ruddy1913
bastarda1935
pissing1951
sodding1954
pissingly1971
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > extremely or exceedingly > excessively
cruellyc1385
overa1400
fullc1400
parlouslyc1425
mortalc1440
perilousc1440
spitefulc1450
devilish1560
pestilently1567
spitefully1567
cruel1573
parlous1575
deadly1589
intolerable?1593
fellc1600
perditlya1632
excessively1634
devilishly1635
desperate1636
woundya1639
woundlya1644
desperately1653
wicked1663
killing1672
woundily1706
wounded1753
mortally1759
dreadful1762
intolerably1768
perishing1776
tremendously1776
terrifically1777
diabolically1792
woundedly1794
thundering1809
all-firedly1833
preponderously1835
painfully1839
deadlilya1843
severely1854
furiously1856
diabolish1858
fiendish1861
demonish1867
sinfully1869
fiendishly1879
thunderingly1885
only too1889
nightmarishly1891
God almighty1906
Christ almighty1945
1567 Triall of Treasure sig. Biiv But sometyme they comber me pestilently.
?1609 J. Healey tr. Bp. J. Hall Discouery New World iii. iii. 138 They do marry wiues, and loue them pestilently well for a while.
1670 J. Eachard Grounds Contempt of Clergy 35 The pretence of making People sagacious and pestilently witty.
1763 H. S. J. Giral del Pino Dict. Spanish & Eng. II Pestilently, or plaguily.
1813 Ld. Byron Diary 30 Nov. in P. Quenell Byron I. 228 Lewis called..a good and good-humoured man, but pestilently prolix.
1883 Standard 16 May 5/8 The most pestilently annoying bird in the world.
1937 Times 10 May 7/4 It was a pestilently cold afternoon for watching the first polo of the year.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.1528