regretfully

Adverb

 * 1) In a regretful manner, with regret.
 * 2)  Unfortunately, in a manner inspiring or deserving regret; used only as a  (to introduce and modify an entire sentence).
 * 1)  Unfortunately, in a manner inspiring or deserving regret; used only as a  (to introduce and modify an entire sentence).

Usage notes
In careful usage, regretfully means with regret (in a manner expressed with regret, expressing remorse), while means deserving regret (sadly, unfortunately), and in the body of sentences this distinction is observed: John regretfully asked for forgiveness, not *John regrettably asked for forgiveness, and The weather was regrettably terrible, not *The weather was regretfully terrible. These terms are occasionally conflated, a practice noted and decried since Fowler 1926 (in the forms  and ).

However, in use as a, these are sometimes used interchangeably to mean “unfortunately”, a practice noted since the 1960s in the United States, as in: Regrettably, it is raining or Regretfully, it is raining, the latter being proscribed by some. This is similar to and possibly influenced by the use of, which predates this usage of regretfully, and is both far more popular than regretfully and has no precise equivalent, *hopeably not existing.

Related terms

 * Category:English words containing but not directly derived from: regret
 * Category:English words derived from: regret

Translations

 * Finnish:
 * Spanish: