sadly

adverb

ˈsad-lē How to pronounce sadly (audio)
Definition of sadlynext
as in bitterly
with feelings of bitterness or grief sadly she told us how her dog died

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of sadly But there are glimmers of hope, particularly after the first two (sadly) table-setting episodes, that there is some honest-to-goodness storytelling momentum here. — Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 21 June 2026 Now the girls, with their useless prop hats drooping sadly over their foreheads, are forced to watch strangers in even cuter outfits than theirs (according to Jen) doing body rolls all over the boys the main-villa girls have only just managed to wrangle into something like a relationship. — Kathleen Walsh, Vulture, 22 June 2026 Little Debbie Apple Flips Though there are still plenty of Little Debbie classics filling the shelves at Southern grocery stores, and even new arrivals from time to time, there are also sadly some treats that have been discontinued. — Jenna Sims, Southern Living, 26 June 2026 The Prince of Wales sadly won’t be attending Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce‘s wedding Friday in New York City, but the heir to the British throne nonetheless made sure to offer some royal prestige to events. — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 3 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for sadly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sadly
  1. bitterly
  2. sorrowfully
  3. painfully
  4. mournfully
  5. regretfully
  6. hard
Adverb
  • With a goalkeeping howler and a red card, Marcelo Bielsa’s side self-imploded at the end of a bitterly disappointing tournament.
    — Tim Spiers, New York Times, 30 June 2026
  • And the organization’s internal splinter groups, the Soviet-leaning Weatherman Underground and the Maoist-leaning Progressive Labor faction fought each other bitterly.
    — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Time, 28 June 2026
Definition of bitterly
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
Definition of sorrowfully
Adverb
  • Her life remains a poignant reminder that America’s promise of liberty was still painfully incomplete for many who believed in it most.
    — Robin Follman, Oc Register, 4 July 2026
  • But for too many agencies, turning that data into a complete, compliant police report is still painfully manual, time-consuming and prone to error.
    — Matthew Polega, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of painfully
Adverb
  • So is the moment early in the film when Mary mournfully looks on as her long-ago home faces demolition to make room for a big, featureless residential complex.
    — Peter Tonguette, The Washington Examiner, 6 June 2026
  • Things are getting hot in Kayce's love life, even after the widower mournfully visits the East Camp memorial to his beloved wife, Monica Dutton (Kelsey Asbille).
    — Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 25 May 2026
Definition of mournfully
Adverb
  • Their reports explained regretfully that the confrontation had prevented two officers from receiving awards for shooting burglars.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 1 Apr. 2026
  • Issa bitterly but regretfully prepares for the inevitable showdown.
    — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2026
Definition of regretfully
Adverb
  • Buying a first home has never been harder Are first-time home buyers a vanishing breed?
    — Kristin Scharkey, USA Today, 7 July 2026
  • So that’s kind of hard, because last year was a big year for, like, health-wise for my wife.
    — Deputy Entertainment, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2026
Definition of hard

Browse Nearby Words

sadistic
sadly
sadness
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Sadly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sadly. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on sadly

Nglish: Translation of sadly for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gambol

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All