unfortunately

adverb

1. 1

   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.

2. 2

   Used (as a parenthetical word, often a sentence adverb) to express disappointment, compassion, sorrow, regret, or grief.

   The houses which burned down could have been saved. Unfortunately, the fire truck had broken down on the way.

   Unfortunately, the uproar awoke Mr. Jones, who sprang out of bed, making sure that there was a fox in the yard.

   Unfortunately, even in the palmiest days of the old Cockermouth, Keswick & Penrith Railway Company, passengers were few and far between at Troutbeck, and since the advent of the motor bus road services they are rarer than ever, and never likely to increase.

   Informal techniques, if properly written, can be quite readable and comprehensible; unfortunately, it is easy to leave unsaid details that must be specified, or to misgeneralise and produce inconsistencies.

Forms

comparative

more unfortunately

superlative

most unfortunately