unhappily
adverb
un·hap·pi·ly
ˌən-ˈha-pə-lē 
1
: unfortunately sense 1
unhappily, medicine has not yet found a cure—
Diana Trilling
Diana Trilling2
: in an unhappy manner : without pleasure
practiced law unhappily for a few years
Examples of unhappily in a Sentence
They were unhappily married for two years.
an unhappily married couple being counseled by a professional
Recent Examples on the Web
The actor Steve Coogan plays Tom Michell, a teacher from southern England who is unhappily assigned to an upper-class boy’s school in 1970s Argentina.
—Glenn Kenny, New York Times, 27 Mar. 2025
The Palestinian population would live unhappily, but under the day-to-day administration of a Palestinian government.
—Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 16 Jan. 2025
Although Hemingway had been somewhat happily employed by the Toronto Star Weekly as a foreign correspondent since 1921, in 1923 he was unhappily transferred to feature writing for the Toronto Daily Star under the notorious Hindmarsh.
—Emily Zarevich, JSTOR Daily, 6 Jan. 2025
One of them is another family friend, the unhappily married Naomi Shah, who at the psychologist’s 40th wedding-anniversary party takes an interest in Griffin that turns quickly, shockingly carnal, leading to a series of encounters in her Mercedes and elsewhere.
—Alexandra Jacobs, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unhappily
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.
Glenn Kenny, New York Times, 27 Mar. 2025
The Palestinian population would live unhappily, but under the day-to-day administration of a Palestinian government.
—Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 16 Jan. 2025
Although Hemingway had been somewhat happily employed by the Toronto Star Weekly as a foreign correspondent since 1921, in 1923 he was unhappily transferred to feature writing for the Toronto Daily Star under the notorious Hindmarsh.
—Emily Zarevich, JSTOR Daily, 6 Jan. 2025
One of them is another family friend, the unhappily married Naomi Shah, who at the psychologist’s 40th wedding-anniversary party takes an interest in Griffin that turns quickly, shockingly carnal, leading to a series of encounters in her Mercedes and elsewhere.
—Alexandra Jacobs, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unhappily
Cite this Entry
“Unhappily.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unhappily. Accessed 11 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share