unfortunately
Syllables: un·for·tu·nate·lyUK/ʌnˈfɔː.tjʊ.nət.li//ʌnˈfɔɹ.t͡ʃə.nɪt.li/
unfortunately adverb: happening through bad luck, or because of some unfortunate event.
Adverb
unfortunately (comparative more unfortunately, superlative most unfortunately)
- Happening through bad luck, or because of some unfortunate event.
- He unfortunately placed his hand on a loose brick.
- There were an unfortunately large number of misprints.
- Synonyms:
- unluckily
- Used (as a parenthetical word, often a sentence adverb) to express disappointment, compassion, sorrow, regret, or grief.
- The houses which burned down could have been saved. Unfortunately, the fire truck had broken down on the way.
- Unfortunately, the uproar awoke Mr. Jones, who sprang out of bed, making sure that there was a fox in the yard.1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC
- Synonyms:
- alas, regrettably, sadly, sad to say
unfortunately meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
unfortunately in Hindi
- happening through bad luck
- दुर्भाग्यवश durbhāgyavaś, दुर्भाग्य से durbhāgya se
unfortunately in Tamil
- துரதிர்ஷ்டவசமாக, துரதிருஷ்டவசமாக
unfortunately in Marathi
- दुर्दैवाने
unfortunately in Urdu
- happening through bad luck
- بَد قِسْمَتی سے bad qismatī se
More languagesFewer languages
- unfortunately in Bengali
- দুর্ভাগ্যবশত, দুঃখজনকভাবে, হায়, আফসোস
- unfortunately in Telugu
- దురదృష్టవశాత్తు, దురదృష్టవశాత్తూ
- unfortunately in Malayalam
- നിർഭാഗ്യവശാൽ niṟbhāgyavaśāl, ദുർഭാഗ്യവശാൽ duṟbhāgyavaśāl
- unfortunately in Kannada
- ದುರದೃಷ್ಟವಶಾತ್, ದುರಾದೃಷ್ಟವಶಾತ್
- unfortunately in Gujarati
- કમનસીબે
- unfortunately in Odia
- ଦୁର୍ଭାଗ୍ଯ଼ବଶତଃ
- unfortunately in Nepali
- दुर्भाग्यवश, दुर्भाग्यवस
- unfortunately in Tagalog
- sa kasamaang-palad, sa kasawiang-palad
- unfortunately in Arabic
- لِلْأَسَف li-l-ʔasaf, لِسُوءِ الْحَظِّ lisūʔi l-ḥaẓẓi
- unfortunately in Indonesian
- sayangnya
- unfortunately in Vietnamese
- tiếc rằng, tiếc là
Examples of unfortunately in a sentence
- Unfortunately, the leading bridesmaid stepped on the bride's train as they were walking down the aisle.
- There were too many mistakes in the test that, unfortunately, made you fail.
- Unfortunately, only one of these gloves will actually fit over my hand.
Synonyms of unfortunately
Antonyms
Forms of unfortunately
| comparative | more unfortunately |
|---|---|
| superlative | most unfortunately |
Origin of unfortunately
From unfortunate + -ly or un- + fortunately.
Questions about unfortunately
- What does unfortunately mean?
- Unfortunately means happening through bad luck, or because of some unfortunate event.
- What is unfortunately in Hindi?
- Unfortunately in Hindi is दुर्भाग्यवश (durbhāgyavaś), दुर्भाग्य से (durbhāgya se). See Unfortunately meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is unfortunately?
- Unfortunately is an adverb.
- How do you pronounce unfortunately?
- Unfortunately is pronounced /ʌnˈfɔː.tjʊ.nət.li/ (UK).
Words near unfortunately in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: unfortunately (page history and authors); unfortunately (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); unfortunately (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); unfortunately (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); unfortunately (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ദുർഭാഗ്യവശാൽ (Malayalam) (page history and authors); unfortunately (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); unfortunately (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); unfortunately (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); unfortunately (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-unfortunately.ogg.
Cite this entry: “unfortunately.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/unfortunately. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.