as in bitterly
with feelings of bitterness or grief
an unhappily married couple being counseled by a professional
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Recent Examples of unhappily
Thelma, who is unhappily married to the controlling Darryl (Christopher McDonald), is seduced and betrayed by J.D., triggering the series of events that lead to the movie's iconic ending.
—
Ashley Hume, FOXNews.com, 1 Dec. 2025
Ibsen’s title character is a spoiled, headstrong young woman who, newly and unhappily married to a dull scholar, enacts a Machiavellian scheme to advance his career and her social standing, with catastrophic results.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2025
One of the youngest of the MacKenzie brood (and often seen with sister Janet), Jocasta Cameron is sometimes callously honest, perpetually jealous of the attention Ellen gets, and unhappily married to an old man.
—Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 8 Aug. 2025
What appeared to be an opportunity to finally stick it to the team that had dashed their playoff hopes three straight years could end, again unhappily, on Thursday night in Edmonton.
—Jim Alexander, Daily News, 30 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unhappily
Ashley Hume, FOXNews.com, 1 Dec. 2025
Ibsen’s title character is a spoiled, headstrong young woman who, newly and unhappily married to a dull scholar, enacts a Machiavellian scheme to advance his career and her social standing, with catastrophic results.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2025
One of the youngest of the MacKenzie brood (and often seen with sister Janet), Jocasta Cameron is sometimes callously honest, perpetually jealous of the attention Ellen gets, and unhappily married to an old man.
—Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 8 Aug. 2025
What appeared to be an opportunity to finally stick it to the team that had dashed their playoff hopes three straight years could end, again unhappily, on Thursday night in Edmonton.
—Jim Alexander, Daily News, 30 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unhappily
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unhappily
Adverb
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The union had bitterly opposed Newsom in his race.—
Maya Singer,
Vogue,
1 Feb. 2026
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On these bitterly cold winter days, nothing sounds better than defrosting in a sauna.—
Olivia Young,
Travel + Leisure,
1 Feb. 2026
Adverb
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Victoria won three Grammys at the 2024 awards ceremony — Best New Artist, Best R&B Album and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical — but sadly, the category Hazel was in didn't earn the mother-daughter duo a golden gramophone.—
Diana Pearl,
PEOPLE,
1 Feb. 2026
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The urge to brand those of opposing views as evil and out to destroy the country are too great to resist, sadly.—
Boston Herald editorial staff,
Boston Herald,
29 Jan. 2026
Adverb
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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
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Ludo Lefebvre echoed the urgency, pointing to the painfully deliberate pace of the recovery.—
Michelle Edgar,
Daily News,
27 Jan. 2026
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One of those situations was painfully basic.—
C.J. Holmes,
New York Daily News,
25 Jan. 2026
Adverb
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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
“Unhappily.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unhappily. Accessed 6 Feb. 2026.
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