Some words in Russian have an interesting quality to them: they can express both positive and negative feelings. «Ужасно» ‘terribly’ is one of these words. It is important to note, though, that in either case the feeling is very strong. Therefore, it will most likely be followed by an exclamation mark.

Ужасно comes from the noun «ужас», which means “horror.” The root produces other words like «ужастик» “horror movie,” so called, of course, because it horrifies you. For example:

Also, «ужас» can express one’s reaction to a misfortune of some sort.

In English the adverb ‘awfully’ can be used to mean ‘very’ in both positive and negative contexts. For instance, you can say “She's awfully pretty” in the sense of “She is very pretty,” or you can say “He's awfully stupid” in the sense of “He is very stupid.” Similarly in Russian the adverb «ужасно» ‘horribly’ can mean “very much” or ‘absolutely’ or ‘really’ in both positive and negative contexts:

Even though the meanings are quite different, it is usually easy to understand which one is being used according to the situation. However, I hope you all will only need to use this word's positive meaning!