sorrowfully
"sorrowfully" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sorrowfully” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - In a sorrowful manner; with sorrow and regret.
Corpus desk
Index EN-sorrowfully · sorrowfully · English
sorrowfully · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "S" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sorrowfully |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “sorrowfully” in English
Rare enough to double-check
sorrowfully is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "In a sorrowful manner; with sorrow and regret.".
No misspelling variants are generated for sorrowfully in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English sorwefully; by surface analysis, sorrowful + -ly. The correct English form is sorrowfully, spelled S-O-R-R-O-W-F-U-L-L-Y.
Definition
- 1In a sorrowful manner; with sorrow and regret.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how sorrowfully appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
They sent a pleasant and refreshing fragrance far around, and shook sorrowfully the leaves of their white flowers over the reflected picture of the landscape in the mirror of the lake, which on all sides was surrounded by pine trees and mossy cliffs.
Sorrowfully Dorothy left the Throne Room and went back where the Lion and the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman were waiting to hear what Oz had said to her. "There is no hope for me," she said sadly, "for Oz will not send me home until I have killed the Wicked Witch of the West; and that I can never do."
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English sorwefully; by surface analysis, sorrowful + -ly.
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.