sadly

adverb

sad·​ly ˈsad-lē 

1

: in a sad manner : in a way that shows sadness or unhappiness

They spoke sadly of their loss.

She shook her head sadly.

He walked away sadly.

2

: in a way that causes feelings of sadness, disappointment, or regret

a garden that has been sadly neglected for many years

What was top-of-the-line when the house was built was by now sadly outdated.

—Sue Grafton

The Greek populations of these great cities are now sadly diminished or gone altogether, leaving them much duller places.

—Robert Fox

3

: unfortunately

—used to say that something is sad, unfortunate, or regrettable

Sadly, you can upload a perfectly working website today and return a few months later to find that many of its external links have died off.

—Matthew MacDonald

Is there a way to get the virus out of an afflicted cat's system? "Sadly, no," says Dr. [James] Richards.

—Tom Ewing

Synonyms of sadly

• bitterly
• sorrowfully
• painfully
• regretfully
• mournfully
• hard

Examples of sadly in a Sentence

sadly she told us how her dog died

Recent Examples on the Web

The forward march of time, trends, and real estate prices means there’s sadly no longer a teriyaki business every few blocks. — Allecia Vermillion, Bon Appetit Magazine, 2 Nov. 2026

Lyle passed recently, sadly, but Lyle is the one responsible for the plant. — Andrew Buss, Vanity Fair, 29 Oct. 2026

Stephen Colbert’s tenure as host of The Late Show sadly ended when CBS cancelled the historic series in May, but his 11-season run was only possible thanks to a prior gig. — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 28 Oct. 2026

But sadly for the multi trillion dollar company, some of the larger, inner screens on its $2,000-plus devices are already cracking, and early postmortems point to their faulty hinge design. — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 28 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for sadly

• badly
• gladly
• madly
• comradely