regretfully

Universal Words adverb 1 in a way that shows you are sad or disappointed about sth: 'I'm afraid not,' he said regretfully. * Emma shook her head regretfully. 2 used to show that you are sorry that sth is the case and you wish the situation were different SYNREGRETTABLY: There is, regretfully, no space in this article to examine all these issues. * Regretfully, mounting costs have forced the museum to close. ______________________________ WHICHWORD? regretfully / regrettably Regretfully and regrettably can both be used as sentence adverbs to show that you are sorry about something and wish the situation were different: Regretfully, some jobs will be lost. * Regrettably, some jobs will be lost. Regretfully can also be used to mean 'in a way that shows you are sad or disappointed about something': He sighed regretfully. ______________________________