Meaning & use
disgracefully
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Meaning
adverb
In a way that is shocking and unacceptable, often causing public shame.
Grammar: Modifies a verb or an adjective: behave disgracefully, disgracefully rude.
Patterns
- behave disgracefully
- act disgracefully
- disgracefully treated
He behaved disgracefully at the party, shouting at the other guests.
The company treated its workers disgracefully, paying them less than minimum wage.
She was disgracefully late for the meeting, without any apology.
Common combinations
- behave disgracefully
- The children behaved disgracefully in the restaurant.
- treat someone disgracefully
- The hotel treated us disgracefully, ignoring our complaints.
- disgracefully late
- He arrived disgracefully late for his own wedding.
- disgracefully poor
- The team's performance was disgracefully poor.
Synonyms and how they differ
- shamefully
- Similar, but focuses more on the feeling of shame; 'disgracefully' often implies public disgrace.
- scandalously
- Suggests that the behavior causes public outrage; 'disgracefully' is more about loss of respect.
- appallingly
- Emphasizes shock and horror; 'disgracefully' emphasizes moral failure.
Opposites
Word family
- disgrace noun
- Loss of respect because of bad behavior.
- disgraceful adjective
- Shocking and unacceptable.
- disgraced adjective
- Having lost respect because of bad behavior.
Commonly confused: disgracefully or disgraceful?
disgracefully vs disgraceful
This is the adjective; 'disgracefully' is the adverb. Use 'disgraceful' before nouns (a disgraceful act) and 'disgracefully' to describe how someone acts.
Practice
The referee was ______ biased, and everyone noticed.
Choose one answer.
'Disgracefully' is the adverb needed to modify the adjective 'biased'. 'Disgraceful' is an adjective and cannot modify another adjective; 'disgrace' is a noun and 'disgraced' is an adjective.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “disgracefully”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.