sadly

adverb

sad·​ly ˈsad-lē 

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What was top-of-the-line when the house was built was by now sadly outdated.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

The Greek populations of these great cities are now sadly diminished or gone altogether, leaving them much duller places.

—Robert Fox

3

: 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

Is there a way to get the virus out of an afflicted cat's system? "Sadly, no," says Dr. [James] Richards.

—Tom Ewing

Synonyms of sadly

• bitterly
• sorrowfully
• painfully
• mournfully
• regretfully
• hard

Examples of sadly in a Sentence

sadly she told us how her dog died

Recent Examples on the Web

Still, several popular chains have sadly evaded the KC metro. — Kansas City Star, 17 July 2026

The Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office confirmed to NBC10 Boston and WCVB on Wednesday, July 15 that the driver involved in the crash had sadly died. — Kimberlee Speakman, PEOPLE, 16 July 2026

The bucket hat was already coming in handy, but sadly, the tops of my legs that weren’t covered by my shorts were suffering within minutes. — Jerry Perez, The Drive, 15 July 2026

The initial inspiration was that in our society, child abuse is sadly really common. — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 11 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for sadly

• badly
• gladly
• madly
• comradely