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The question appears to seek examples of adverbs that are widely used in contemporary vernacular to emphasize the severity of a situation, yet in such contexts understood not to convey any accurate or literal quality.

The six examples all have this usage, but note that preference varies widely according to dialect. The prior three, badly, awfully, and terribly, enjoy an established status among British elite. The latter three, royally, literally, and officially, are likely to have gained popularity through young Americans, especially white and middle class, of Generation X.

Such usages fall into a variety of categories:

1. Negative words used ironically to portray a positive quality:

• insanely: insanely beautiful
• wildly: wildly successful
• frightfully: frightfully clever
• crazy (no adverbial inflection, i.e. no -ly suffix): crazy rich

1. Negative words used with exaggeration or metaphor to express distaste:

• seriously: seriously painful
• ridiculously: ridiculously tired
• outrageously: outrageously expensive
• absurdly: absurdly cold
• impossibly: impossibly long
• dreadfully: dreadfully dull

1. Words used in combination with particular others to such an extent that in each case the former has become a ubiquitous means to emphasize the latter, but is not as often used with a similar intention in other contexts:

• painfully: painfully slow
• fabulously: fabulously wealthy
• absolutely: absolutely terrified
• brilliantly: brilliantly funny
• madly: madly in love
• devilishly: devilishly handsome
• eerily: eerily familiar
• deadly: deadly serious
• fundamentally: fundamentally broken or fundamentally dysfunctional
• basically: basically correct or basically right
• grossly: grossly underestimated or grossly underrated

1. Words that have acquired a specific idiomatic meaning of emphasis, but only with some specific other word:

• drop-dead: drop-dead gorgeous
• stupid: stupid smart (i.e. so smart that everyone else feels stupid)

The question appears to seek examples of adverbs that are widely used in contemporary vernacular to emphasize the severity of a situation, yet in such contexts understood not to convey any accurate or literal quality.

The six examples all have this usage, but note that preference varies widely according to dialect. The prior three, badly, awfully, and terribly, enjoy an established status among British elite. The latter three, royally, literally, and officially, are likely to have gained popularity through young Americans, especially white and middle class, of Generation X.

Such usages fall into a variety of categories:

1. Negative words used ironically to portray a positive quality:

• insanely: insanely beautiful
• wildly: wildly successful
• frightfully: frightfully clever
• crazy (no adverbial inflection, i.e. no -ly suffix): crazy rich

1. Negative words used with exaggeration or metaphor to express distaste:

• seriously: seriously painful
• ridiculously: ridiculously tired
• outrageously: outrageously expensive
• absurdly: absurdly cold
• impossibly: impossibly long
• dreadfully: dreadfully dull

1. Words used in combination with particular others to such an extent that in each case the former has become a ubiquitous means to emphasize the latter, but is not as often used with a similar intention in other contexts:

• painfully: painfully slow
• fabulously: fabulously wealthy
• absolutely: absolutely terrified
• brilliantly: brilliantly funny
• madly: madly in love
• devilishly: devilishly handsome
• eerily: eerily familiar
• deadly: deadly serious
• basically: basically correct or basically right
• grossly: grossly underestimated or grossly underrated
• fundamentally: fundamentally flawed, fundamentally broken, or fundamentally dysfunctional

1. Words that have acquired a specific idiomatic meaning of emphasis, but only with some specific other word:

• drop-dead: drop-dead gorgeous
• stupid: stupid smart (i.e. so smart that everyone else feels stupid)

The six examples you mention have this usage, but note that preference varies widely according to dialect. The prior three, badly, awfully, and terribly enjoy an established status among British elite. The latter three, royally, literally, and officially, are likely to have emerged in popularity through young Americans, especially white and middle class, of Generation X.

• Negative words used ironically to portray a positive quality:

  • insanely: insanely beautiful
  • wildly: wildly successful
  • frightfully: frightfully clever
  • crazy (no adverbial inflection, i.e. no -ly suffix): crazy rich

• Negative words used with exaggeration or metaphor to express distaste:

  • seriously: seriously painful
  • ridiculously: ridiculously tired
  • outrageously: outrageously expensive
  • absurdly: absurdly cold
  • impossibly: impossibly long
  • dreadfully: dreadfully dull

• Words used in combination with particular others to such an extent that in each case the former has become a ubiquitous means to emphasize the latter, but is not as often used with a similar intention in other contexts:

  • painfully: painfully slow
  • fabulously: fabulously wealthy
  • absolutely: absolutely terrified
  • brilliantly: brilliantly funny
  • madly: madly in love
  • devilishly: devilishly handsome
  • eerily: eerily familiar
  • deadly: deadly serious
  • fundamentally: fundamentally broken or fundamentally dysfunctional
  • basically: basically correct or basically right
  • grossly: grossly underestimated or grossly underrated

• Words that have acquired a specific idiomatic meaning of emphasis, but only with some specific other word:

  • drop-dead: drop-dead gorgeous
  • stupid: stupid smart (i.e. so smart that everyone else feels stupid)

The six examples all have this usage, but note that preference varies widely according to dialect. The prior three, badly, awfully, and terribly, enjoy an established status among British elite. The latter three, royally, literally, and officially, are likely to have gained popularity through young Americans, especially white and middle class, of Generation X.

1. Negative words used ironically to portray a positive quality:

• insanely: insanely beautiful
• wildly: wildly successful
• frightfully: frightfully clever
• crazy (no adverbial inflection, i.e. no -ly suffix): crazy rich

1. Negative words used with exaggeration or metaphor to express distaste:

• seriously: seriously painful
• ridiculously: ridiculously tired
• outrageously: outrageously expensive
• absurdly: absurdly cold
• impossibly: impossibly long
• dreadfully: dreadfully dull

1. Words used in combination with particular others to such an extent that in each case the former has become a ubiquitous means to emphasize the latter, but is not as often used with a similar intention in other contexts:

• painfully: painfully slow
• fabulously: fabulously wealthy
• absolutely: absolutely terrified
• brilliantly: brilliantly funny
• madly: madly in love
• devilishly: devilishly handsome
• eerily: eerily familiar
• deadly: deadly serious
• fundamentally: fundamentally broken or fundamentally dysfunctional
• basically: basically correct or basically right
• grossly: grossly underestimated or grossly underrated

1. Words that have acquired a specific idiomatic meaning of emphasis, but only with some specific other word:

• drop-dead: drop-dead gorgeous
• stupid: stupid smart (i.e. so smart that everyone else feels stupid)

The question appears to seek examples of adverbs that are widely used in contemporary vernacular to emphasize the severity of a situation, yet in such contexts understood not to convey any accurate or literal quality.

The six examples you mention have this usage, but note that preference varies widely according to dialect. The prior three, badly, awfully, and terribly enjoy an established status among British elite. The latter three, royally, literally, and officially, are likely to have emerged in popularity through young Americans, especially white and middle class, of Generation X.

Such usages fall into a variety of categories:

• Negative words used ironically to portray a positive quality:

  • insanely: insanely beautiful
  • wildly: wildly successful
  • frightfully: frightfully clever
  • crazy (no adverbial inflection, i.e. no -ly suffix): crazy rich

• Negative words used with exaggeration or metaphor to express distaste:

  • seriously: seriously painful
  • ridiculously: ridiculously tired
  • outrageously: outrageously expensive
  • absurdly: absurdly cold
  • impossibly: impossibly long
  • dreadfully: dreadfully difficult

• Words used in combination with particular others to such an extent that in each case the former has become a ubiquitous means to emphasize the latter, but is not as often used with a similar intention in other contexts:

  • painfully: painfully slow
  • fabulously: fabulously wealthy
  • absolutely: absolutely terrified
  • brilliantly: brilliantly funny
  • madly: madly in love
  • devilishly: devilishly handsome
  • eerily: eerily familiar
  • deadly: deadly serious
  • fundamentally: fundamentally broken or fundamentally dysfunctional
  • basically: basically correct or basically right
  • grossly: grossly underestimated or grossly underrated

• Words that have acquired a specific idiomatic meaning of emphasis, but only with some specific other word:

  • drop-dead: drop-dead gorgeous
  • stupid: stupid smart (i.e. so smart that everyone else feels stupid)

The question appears to seek examples of adverbs that are widely used in contemporary vernacular to emphasize the severity of a situation, yet in such contexts understood not to convey any accurate or literal quality.

The six examples you mention have this usage, but note that preference varies widely according to dialect. The prior three, badly, awfully, and terribly enjoy an established status among British elite. The latter three, royally, literally, and officially, are likely to have emerged in popularity through young Americans, especially white and middle class, of Generation X.

Such usages fall into a variety of categories:

• Negative words used ironically to portray a positive quality:

  • insanely: insanely beautiful
  • wildly: wildly successful
  • frightfully: frightfully clever
  • crazy (no adverbial inflection, i.e. no -ly suffix): crazy rich

• Negative words used with exaggeration or metaphor to express distaste:

  • seriously: seriously painful
  • ridiculously: ridiculously tired
  • outrageously: outrageously expensive
  • absurdly: absurdly cold
  • impossibly: impossibly long
  • dreadfully: dreadfully dull

• Words used in combination with particular others to such an extent that in each case the former has become a ubiquitous means to emphasize the latter, but is not as often used with a similar intention in other contexts:

  • painfully: painfully slow
  • fabulously: fabulously wealthy
  • absolutely: absolutely terrified
  • brilliantly: brilliantly funny
  • madly: madly in love
  • devilishly: devilishly handsome
  • eerily: eerily familiar
  • deadly: deadly serious
  • fundamentally: fundamentally broken or fundamentally dysfunctional
  • basically: basically correct or basically right
  • grossly: grossly underestimated or grossly underrated

• Words that have acquired a specific idiomatic meaning of emphasis, but only with some specific other word:

  • drop-dead: drop-dead gorgeous
  • stupid: stupid smart (i.e. so smart that everyone else feels stupid)