unfortunately UK /ʌnˈfɔː.tjʊ.nət.li/US /ʌnˈfɔɹ.t͡ʃə.nɪt.li/ adverb2 •sadly, used to show that you feel sorry about what you are sayingThe houses which burned down could have been saved. Unfortunately, the fire truck had broken down on the way. •Happening through bad luck, or because of some unfortunate event.He unfortunately placed his hand on a loose brick.There were an unfortunately large number of misprints. formsmore unfortunately · most unfortunately