1
: in a sad manner : in a way that shows sadness or unhappiness
They spoke sadly of their loss.
She shook her head sadly.
He walked away sadly.
2
: in a way that causes feelings of sadness, disappointment, or regret
a garden that has been sadly neglected for many years
What was top-of-the-line when the house was built was by now sadly outdated.—
Sue Grafton
Sue GraftonThe Greek populations of these great cities are now sadly diminished or gone altogether, leaving them much duller places.—Robert Fox
Robert Fox3
: unfortunately
—used to say that something is sad, unfortunate, or regrettable
Sadly, you can upload a perfectly working website today and return a few months later to find that many of its external links have died off.—Matthew MacDonald
Matthew MacDonaldIs there a way to get the virus out of an afflicted cat's system? "Sadly, no," says Dr. [James] Richards.—Tom Ewing
Tom EwingExamples of sadly in a Sentence
sadly she told us how her dog died
Recent Examples on the Web
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
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
This is sadly part of a larger trend by the mayor in putting his movement ahead of the best interests of his constituents.
—
Bradley Tusk,
New York Daily News,
20 June 2026
Goalkeeper Barbosa was viewed in Brazil as the main culprit and, sadly and unfairly, suffered abuse for it for the rest of his life.
—
Will Jeanes,
New York Times,
20 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for sadly
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Kathleen Walsh,
Vulture,
22 June 2026
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
This is sadly part of a larger trend by the mayor in putting his movement ahead of the best interests of his constituents.
—
Bradley Tusk,
New York Daily News,
20 June 2026
Goalkeeper Barbosa was viewed in Brazil as the main culprit and, sadly and unfairly, suffered abuse for it for the rest of his life.
—
Will Jeanes,
New York Times,
20 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for sadly
Cite this Entry
“Sadly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sadly. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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