unfortunately

[…]

/[…]/ adv

The verdict

“unfortunately” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Ausdruck des Bedauerns

Corpus desk

Index DE-unfortunately · unfortunately · German

unfortunately · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "U" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for unfortunately
PropertyValue
Headwordunfortunately
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdverb
IPA[…]
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „unfortunately“ im Deutschen

unfortunatelyschafft es nicht in die Top 100.000 des Deutschen: Zone für Fach-, Alt- oder Seltenwortschatz.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

unfortunately is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed […]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Ausdruck des Bedauerns".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for unfortunately, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is unfortunately, spelled U-N-F-O-R-T-U-N-A-T-E-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Ausdruck des Bedauerns

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how unfortunately appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. „Unfortunately, prefilled syringes aren't available in all doses.“

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "unfortunately"?
"unfortunately" is spelled U-N-F-O-R-T-U-N-A-T-E-L-Y. The IPA pronunciation is […].
What does "unfortunately" mean?
As an adverb, "unfortunately" means: Ausdruck des Bedauerns
How do you pronounce "unfortunately"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "unfortunately" is […]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "unfortunately" come from?
"unfortunately" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list