as in bitterly
with feelings of bitterness or grief
ruefully accepted the fact that the drunk driver would never adequately pay for his crime
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Recent Examples of ruefully
As Chemerinsky ruefully admits, courts have deemed such suits in recent decades to be political questions outside their scope.
—
David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 1 May 2026
Nikki Glaser is looking back ruefully on being eliminated first from Dancing With the Stars season 27.
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Apr. 2026
Defying the line in the play where Robert Shaw ruefully hopes none of his children will become actors, Ian Shaw is a veteran stage, film and TV performer, mostly taking smaller parts in the United Kingdom.
—Christopher Smith, Oc Register, 10 Mar. 2026
This last comment came from a fellow traveler, ruefully disclosing an act of self-defense many years ago.
—Tribune News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Mar. 2026
Elsa / Getty Images The Atlanta Falcons’ struggles had head coach Raheem Morris ruefully quoting his former boss and friend, Mike Tomlin.
—Josh Kendall, New York Times, 2 Dec. 2025
Safdie says as Johnson laughs ruefully.
—Daniel D'addario, Variety, 12 Nov. 2025
Annoyingly, the line was all McNamara, D'Arcy points out ruefully.
—Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 18 Sep. 2025
Jon Stewart, ever the happy employee in his running joke of begrudgingly working Monday nights at The Daily Show, ruefully acknowledged being back at his post after being on vacation for over a month.
—Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 8 Sep. 2025
David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 1 May 2026
Nikki Glaser is looking back ruefully on being eliminated first from Dancing With the Stars season 27.
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Apr. 2026
Defying the line in the play where Robert Shaw ruefully hopes none of his children will become actors, Ian Shaw is a veteran stage, film and TV performer, mostly taking smaller parts in the United Kingdom.
—Christopher Smith, Oc Register, 10 Mar. 2026
This last comment came from a fellow traveler, ruefully disclosing an act of self-defense many years ago.
—Tribune News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Mar. 2026
Elsa / Getty Images The Atlanta Falcons’ struggles had head coach Raheem Morris ruefully quoting his former boss and friend, Mike Tomlin.
—Josh Kendall, New York Times, 2 Dec. 2025
Safdie says as Johnson laughs ruefully.
—Daniel D'addario, Variety, 12 Nov. 2025
Annoyingly, the line was all McNamara, D'Arcy points out ruefully.
—Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 18 Sep. 2025
Jon Stewart, ever the happy employee in his running joke of begrudgingly working Monday nights at The Daily Show, ruefully acknowledged being back at his post after being on vacation for over a month.
—Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 8 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ruefully
Adverb
-
But Starmer has been reluctant to reopen a debate that bitterly divided the country.—
Jill Lawless,
Fortune,
11 May 2026
-
Several thousand navvies worked on the railway, living in makeshift camps, and many died in accidents, or from exposure and disease in the bitterly cold winters.—
The Week UK,
TheWeek,
3 May 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
-
David Smith, one of the former owners, reports that despite its wild popularity, the original cake recipe sadly got lost.—
Nancy Vienneau,
Southern Living,
17 May 2026
-
Hüller is having a hell of a year, winning the Silver Bear for her role as a woman passing herself off as a male soldier to claim an estate in Rose, and playing the wry, sadly pragmatic head of the international task force in Project Hail Mary, one of the biggest hits of the year.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
15 May 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
-
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
Adverb
-
This has most painfully affected public-school teachers.—
Jill Lepore,
New Yorker,
12 May 2026
-
The Connecticut Sun hoped this season would be different from its dismal record in 2025, but the team’s performance in its 2026 opener against the New York Liberty on Friday night felt painfully familiar.—
Emily Adams,
Hartford Courant,
9 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ruefully.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ruefully. Accessed 18 May. 2026.
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