woefullyadv.
/ˈwəʊfᵿli/, /ˈwəʊfl̩i/, U.S. /ˈwoʊfəli/ 1. In a pitiable manner or state; in a manner indicative or expressive of, or marked by, woe; miserably, mournfully, sadly; †unluckily (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > misery > [adverb]
armlyeOE
un-i-sellyOE
wretchlikec1175
wretchlyc1175
unsellyc1275
wretchedlyc1340
woefullya1393
caitifly1393
miserably?a1425
lodderlyc1425
mischievously?a1439
sorrily1496
comfortlessly1852
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. l. 1149 (MED) I am A womman wofully bestad.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. l. 3224 Whan thei herde Hou wofully this cause ferde.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) iii. l. 4170 (MED) Fro hir face was goon al þe rede And in his chekis deuoided was þe blod So wofully atwene hem two it stood.
a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) l. 3226 (MED) Now can she nouht but..wofully wryng her handys tweyn.
a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Trial of Fox l. 1070 in Poems (1981) 44 The Ȝow..Put out hir playnt on this wyis wofully.
1526 W. Bonde Rosary sig. Bviv As thou was so wofully arayed.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. v. sig. E4 Where many soules sit wailing woefully.
a1627 T. Middleton & W. Rowley Old Law (1656) v. 69 These that do lead this day of jollity Doe march with Musick..Those that doe follow sad, and wofully.
1751 T. Smollett Peregrine Pickle IV. cxiii. 301 I know..what makes you laugh so woefully.
1866 A. Trollope Belton Estate II. ii. 44 ‘I suppose she thinks so of me,’ said Belton wofully.
1876 A. C. Swinburne Erechtheus 570 Wofully wed in a snow strewn bed.
1967 T. Wilder Eighth Day ii. 277 Lily looked at him woefully.
2015 S. A. Allen First Frost v. 89 ‘I don't have any money,’ Violet said woefully.
2. So as to excite commiseration or dissatisfaction; deplorably, lamentably. Also in weakened sense and as an intensifier: awfully, terribly; exceedingly.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > wretchedness > [adverb]
noughtlyeOE
litherOE
naughtlyOE
litherlya1225
simplya1325
miseaselyc1330
wretchedlyc1340
lewdlyc1386
unhappily1390
miserably?a1425
lodderlyc1425
sorrily1496
singly1548
naughtily1574
sillily1581
lamentably1585
evilly1587
woefully1592
scurvily1616
execrably1633
grievously1742
miscreantly1744
queasily1845
fecklessly1862
God-forsakenly1913
1592 G. Harvey Foure Lett. (new ed.) To Rdr. sig. A2 Greene (although pitifully blasted, & how woefully faded?) still flourisheth in the memory of some greene wits.
1648 W. Jenkyn Ὁδηγος Τυϕλος iii. 58 You say but very little..but in that little you wofully trifle.
1733 P. Lindsay Interest Scotl. 143 Linen is our Staple, &c. but it has been wofully neglected.
1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield II. v. 82 Thou hast once wofully, irreparably, deceived me.
1831 G. P. R. James Philip Augustus xix Of defensive armour the supply was wofully small.
1843 Peter Parley's Ann. 266 Mrs. Clinker, who was wofully, as she termed it, fond of pigs.
1885 Truth 11 June 928/1 The other exhibits are..wofully bad, and deplorably uninteresting.
1951 Univ. Mich. School Educ. Bull. Mar. 118 The American educational system tends to be woefully lacking in the preparation which it provides.
2004 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 12 Feb. 35/1 The clinical judgment of physicians has been woefully inadequate.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adv.a1393