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What was top-of-the-line when the house was built was by now sadly outdated.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

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

Examples of sadly in a Sentence

sadly she told us how her dog died

Recent Examples on the Web

New York may not have a ton of active players competing for their countries at the continental competition beyond French power forward Guerschon Yabusele, but another technical Knicks asset is sadly ailing. —Alex Kirschenbaum, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Sep. 2025

The fates of so many were decided on the 1969 day when a dashing and sadly underestimated 25-year-old Colonel Qaddafi seized power from the monarchy in a matter of hours and promised a new golden era, inspired by Egypt’s President Nasser. —Leila Latif, IndieWire, 2 Sep. 2025

The rest of the quintet — vocalist Dexter Holland, bassist Todd Morse, multi-instrumentalist Jonah Nimoy and drummer Brandon Pertzborn — then joined in for a rocking (yet, sadly, abbreviated) take on that same album’s legendary title track. —Jim Harrington, Mercury News, 31 Aug. 2025

But, sadly, this can be hard to repair once too far gone; naming the dynamic out loud can be daunting and awkward. —Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for sadly

• badly
• gladly
• madly
• comradely