as in sadly
with feelings of bitterness or grief
I must regretfully inform you that you are not among those who have been accepted for our internship program
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Recent Examples of regretfully
In the bit, host Jimmy Fallon regretfully informed the audience that the singer would no longer be appearing as promised.
—
Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 4 Oct. 2024
Next to him sits Saban, who seems to be looking off regretfully into space.
—Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 13 Sep. 2024
The new city manager, who makes a fraction of her predecessor, has regretfully received some very ugly messages.
—Teri Sforza, Orange County Register, 18 June 2024
Colin has been rather bland in the first two seasons, and regretfully Newton's performance hasn't done much to give him life.
—Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 16 May 2024
See All Example Sentences for regretfully
Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 4 Oct. 2024
Next to him sits Saban, who seems to be looking off regretfully into space.
—Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 13 Sep. 2024
The new city manager, who makes a fraction of her predecessor, has regretfully received some very ugly messages.
—Teri Sforza, Orange County Register, 18 June 2024
Colin has been rather bland in the first two seasons, and regretfully Newton's performance hasn't done much to give him life.
—Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 16 May 2024
See All Example Sentences for regretfully
Recent Examples of Synonyms for regretfully
Adverb
-
This should be, but sadly will probably not be, the line that shouldn’t have been crossed.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
7 Jan. 2026
-
Discovering the chemicals responsible for smoke taint is, sadly, only half the battle.—
Nicola Twilley,
New Yorker,
5 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
Tarun would tease her, and my mother would look sorrowfully toward Kavitha, as if the two of them now shared some womanly burden.—
Madhuri Vijay,
New Yorker,
16 Nov. 2025
Adverb
-
Its inhabitants were left without light or heat during a bitterly cold polar vortex, with temperatures as low as 2 degrees Fahrenheit.—
Rachel Treisman,
NPR,
5 Jan. 2026
-
Hasina was bitterly criticized by both her opponents and independent critics for sending Zia to jail.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
30 Dec. 2025
Adverb
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Inspired by a 2017 Los Angeles Time article about a San Gabriel Valley tragedy, director Eric Lin’s heartbreaking feature painfully reminds us of the need to get help and how mental health issues within Asian cultures need to be destigmatized.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
8 Jan. 2026
-
By Sunday, he was gone, a mercifully swift ending to painfully slow decline.—
Scott Maxwell,
The Orlando Sentinel,
8 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
For their part, Democratic leaders spoke mournfully of limits, of energy shortages, of national decline, of a crisis of confidence itself.—
Rosa Lyster,
Harpers Magazine,
30 Dec. 2025
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Based on the Dylan Thomas prose poem of the same name, published in 1952, the film lovingly and mournfully depicts the boyhood Christmastime of an old Welshman, tenderly and a tad mischievously embodied by Elliott.—
Sheldon Pearce,
New Yorker,
21 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Regretfully.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/regretfully. Accessed 11 Jan. 2026.
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