unfortunately

adverb

un·​for·​tu·​nate·​ly
ˌən-ˈfȯrch-nət-lē,
-ˈfȯr-chə- How to pronounce unfortunately (audio)
1
: it is unfortunate
Unfortunately, in the intervening years, time has not stood still for the global environment.Al Gore
A young man can work at excessive speed with no ill effects, but youth is unfortunately not a permanent condition of life.F. Scott Fitzgerald
2
: in a regrettable, unlucky, or unsuitable manner : in an unfortunate manner
"Have you an agreeable neighbourhood here? Are the Middletons pleasant people?" "No, not all," answered Marianne; "we could not be more unfortunately situated."Jane Austen
The past couple years have ended unfortunately for us, and we're using it as motivation.James Moyers

Examples of unfortunately in a Sentence

Our awards program evaluates wine lists, not restaurants as a whole. While we assume the level of food and service will be commensurate with the quality of the wine lists submitted by award winners, this unfortunately is not always true. Wine Spectator, 31 Aug. 2008
Coral reefs provide essential goods and services to maritime tropical nations and are the most diverse marine ecosystems on the planet. Unfortunately, reefs are seriously declining because of global warming. Andrea G. Grottoli et al., Nature, 27 Apr. 2006
There are many books announcing a global economic transformation and suggesting that governments can be reengineered to adapt to it in much the same way as corporations.  … Unfortunately the problems of globalization are more intractable than those of corporate life. States cannot be phased out like bankrupt firms, and large shifts in wealth and power tend to be fiercely contested. John Gray, New York Review of Books, 11 Aug. 2005
Doctors have long believed that children experience pain differently than adults. Unfortunately, most doctors thought kids felt pain less than grownups do, and didn't retain memory of it. As late as the 1970s, infants underwent major surgery without anesthetics.  … This barbaric notion was finally put to rest in the 1980s … Michael D. Lemonick, Time, 28 Feb. 2005
In the aftermath of the Revolution, Americans desperately needed some non-British heroes. Columbus filled the bill even though no one knew much about him until novelist Washington Irving visited Spain, found a rich lode of source materials and produced a widely read biography. Unfortunately, Irving mixed fiction with fact, and one of his most graphic scenes, set in Salamanca, was wildly imaginative. Owen Gingerich, Scientific American, November 1992
Recent Examples on the Web But unfortunately, politics have derailed it so far. USA TODAY, 8 Mar. 2024 Streisand aside, the ad-freeness of the evening was its most notable feature, though in fact there were commercial placeholders, most featuring backstage interviews by Tan France that unfortunately brought the red carpet into the midst of the program proper. Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 25 Feb. 2024 After the defeat and withdrawal of Russian troops from the Kyiv region, people began to return to their homes — some untouched, some, unfortunately, destroyed. Photovogue, Vogue, 24 Feb. 2024 And unfortunately, the other companies have not been afforded that opportunity. Lesley Goldberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Feb. 2024 And, unfortunately, Jefferson’s other changes mostly strip out what makes the book a fascinating and complex portrait of a writer in crisis—namely, voice. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 12 Feb. 2024 This misperception, unfortunately, isn’t uncommon, especially in business. Stephanie Dillon, Rolling Stone, 31 Jan. 2024 Vida is a response, unfortunately, to many people who passed away, people very close to me. Isabela Raygoza, Billboard, 18 Jan. 2024 There might be others of you who know me from — unfortunately — the tabloids. Julia Moore, Peoplemag, 17 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unfortunately.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1548, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of unfortunately was circa 1548

Dictionary Entries Near unfortunately

Cite this Entry

“Unfortunately.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unfortunately. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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