thankfully

adverb thank·ful·ly \ ˈthaŋk-f(ə-)lē \

Updated on: 12 Apr 2018

Definition of thankfully

1 : in a thankful manner

spoke thankfully

2 : as makes one thankful

graceless stadiums … thankfully going out of fashion
—R. G. Echevarriá

thankfully, those opinions are advanced with graceful prose
—Ken Auletta

See thankfully defined for English-language learners

Examples of thankfully in a Sentence

The instructions were thankfully simple.
I always receive your calls thankfully.

Recent Examples of thankfully from the Web

He and fellow Frenchman Simon Pagenaud dominated the first 60 laps, then both had the misfortune to make contact with mechanics when leaving their pits—thankfully neither resulted in injuries like the Ferrari incident.

— jonathan m. gitlin, Ars Technica, "Formula 1 on ESPN sees massive improvement; IndyCar thrilled in Phoenix," 9 Apr. 2018
The first attempt, thankfully lost in the mists of history, played like outright pro-Rajneesh propaganda.

— win mccormack, The New Republic, "Outside the Limits of the Human Imagination," 27 Mar. 2018
On a scale of 1-10, waiting for summer is about a 10 on the misery scale, but thankfully, Ben & Jerry's made that wait a little more tolerable by releasing their summer flavors.

— emma baty, Cosmopolitan, "Ben & Jerry's Is Releasing a New Flavor for Summer and It Sounds Amazing," 19 Mar. 2018
Police searched the area and, thankfully, found no threat.

— sydney scott, Essence.com, "The Quick Read: Chadwick Boseman And Cardi B Set To Hit The 'SNL' Stage," 19 Mar. 2018
Lu Ren is quickly captured, probably because Uthaug and company want Lara to take on the bad guys herself, but Tomb Raider is thankfully short of patronizing moments of empowerment.

— david sims, The Atlantic, "Tomb Raider Is a Gritty Reboot of a Video-Game Classic," 15 Mar. 2018
The danger to the public is thankfully thought to be minimal, with only a small risk coming from prolonged, repeated exposure to the tiny amounts of the chemical.

— vera thoss, Smithsonian, "How to Calculate the Danger of a Toxic Chemical to the Public," 15 Mar. 2018
The research is actually a bit weaker for mass shootings, in large part because such tragedies are, thankfully, somewhat rare, making them more difficult to study.

— german lopez, Vox, "March for Our Lives’ Edna Chavez speaks for the kind of gun violence that doesn’t make front pages," 24 Mar. 2018
Skip ahead down to How People Find and Contact You, since that's thankfully pretty straightforward.

— brian barrett, WIRED, "The Complete Guide to Facebook Privacy," 21 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'thankfully.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of thankfully

before 12th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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THANKFULLY Defined for English Language Learners

thankfully

adverb

Definition of thankfully for English Language Learners

: in a way that makes you feel thankful
: with a feeling of thanks

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Spanish Central: Translation of thankfully Nglish: Translation of thankfully for Spanish speakers

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