The Adverb of Horrible: Horribly
The adverb of horrible is horribly.
How horribly is formed
The adjective ends in -le. Drop the e and add -y: horrible → horribl + y = horribly.
The whole -ible and -able family works this way: terrible → terribly, possible → possibly, probable → probably, comfortable → comfortably.
Horribly in a sentence
| The plan went horribly wrong. | Intensifying an already negative word. |
| He was horribly aware of the silence. | Uncomfortably, painfully. |
| The room was horribly hot. | Simply an intensifier – very. |
Where it is actually used
Knowing the form is one thing; knowing the company a word keeps is what makes it sound natural. These are the patterns horribly appears in most often.
| horribly wrong / disfigured / injured | The literal, grim sense. |
| horribly embarrassing / awkward | Intensifying a negative adjective. |
| horribly aware / conscious | A near-fixed phrase for unwelcome knowledge. |
Horribly or something else?
Several adverbs sit close to horribly, and the difference is usually meaning rather than formality.
| terribly | Has drifted into a plain intensifier in British English – terribly sorry, terribly kind. Horribly never made that move: horribly kind is not English. |
| awfully | Same drift as terribly. Awfully nice works; horribly nice does not. |
| dreadfully | Sits between the two – it can intensify, but keeps more of its dark colour. |
The mistake to watch for
| Incorrect | Correct |
| horriblely | horribly |
The -le ending becomes the -ly. Keeping both produces a syllable that is never spoken.
Related forms
Pronunciation: HOR-ib-lee, three syllables.
| Adjective | horrible |
| Adverb | horribly |
| Noun | horror |
| Related | horrific, horrifying, horrified |
Practice
Fill the gap, then check yourself.
- The experiment went ___ wrong.
- I am ___ sorry to hear that.
- She was ___ conscious of everyone watching.
Answers: 1. horribly 2. terribly / awfully (not horribly) 3. horribly
Frequently asked
Why can I say terribly nice but not horribly nice?
Because terribly and awfully lost their original meaning through centuries of use as emphasis, while horribly kept it. It can only intensify things that are genuinely unpleasant.
