distressfully

English

Etymology

distressful +‎ -ly

Adverb

distressfully (comparative more distressfully, superlative most distressfully)

1. In a distressful way; showing distress
   • 1877, Robert Louis Stevenson, “An Apology for Idlers”, in Essays of Robert Louis Stevenson‎^[1]:

     [4] And while such an one is ploughing distressfully up the road, it is not hard to understand his resentment, when he perceives cool persons in the meadows by the wayside, lying with a handkerchief over their ears and a glass at their elbow.

   • 1910, Grace MacGowan Cooke, The Power and the Glory‎^[2]:

     Oh, I don't understand you at all," Lydia said distressfully.

   • 1912, William Hope Hodgson, Carnacki, The Ghost Finder‎^[3]:

     "Perhaps an hour and a half passed, quietly, except when, once in a way, the dogs would whine distressfully.

   • 1923, Elizabeth Bowen, “The Evil that Men do-”, in Encounters, page 171:

     "I know it is," she sighed, distressfully re-reading it.

Related terms

• distressingly