prodigiously, adv.
(prəʊˈdɪdʒəslɪ)
[f. prec. + -ly2.]
In a prodigious manner.
† 1. Portentously, ominously. Obs.
| 1595 Shakes. John iii. i. 91 Pray that their burthens may not fall this day, Lest that their hopes prodigiously be crost. 1605 Drayton Man in Moon 278 Twice every month, th'eclipses of our light Poor mortals should prodigiously affright. 1663 Cowley Verses Sev. Occas., Ode on His Maj. Restaurat. ii, Auspicious Star again arise,..Again all Heaven prodigiously adorn. |
2. Wonderfully, astonishingly; in colloquial use (hyperbolically), Exceedingly, immensely.
| 1664 Power Exp. Philos. i. 17 Such prodigiously little spindle-shank'd leggs. a 1679 W. Gurnall in Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. ci. 6 Among those who were as prodigiously wicked as any there. 1710–11 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 22 Feb., It snowed all this morning prodigiously. 1778 F. Burney Evelina (1791) II. xxxvii. 244 You are prodigiously kind! 1825 M{supc}Culloch Pol. Econ. ii. ii. 85 The wealth and comforts of all classes are, in consequence, prodigiously augmented. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lvi, A prodigiously well-informed man. |