unfortunately
un·for·tu·nate·ly/ʌnˈfɔɹ.t͡ʃə.nɪt.li/adverb
unfortunately is spelled U-N-F-O-R-T-U-N-A-T-E-L-Y, 5 syllables: un·for·tu·nate·ly. The wrong spelling people search most is unfortunatly: about 660 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 36 of all searches for the word. Unfortunately is an adverb meaning “Happening through bad luck, or because of some unfortunate event”.
How many letters and syllables are in unfortunately?
| Letters | 13: U-N-F-O-R-T-U-N-A-T-E-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5: un·for·tu·nate·ly |
| In writing | 42 times per million words; the 2,392nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 9; the most searched, unfortunatly, about 660 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell unfortunately?
Unfortunately is spelled U-N-F-O-R-T-U-N-A-T-E-L-Y. 9 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 12 of the searches for unfortunately in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is unfortunately?
Unfortunately appears 42 times per million words in written English, the 2,392nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce unfortunately?
- UK /ʌnˈfɔː.tjʊ.nət.li/
- UK /ʌnˈfɔː.t͡ʃə.nət.li/
- US /ʌnˈfɔɹ.t͡ʃə.nɪt.li/
Unfortunately has 5 syllables, split un·for·tu·nate·ly in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-unfortunately.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with unfortunately?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as unfortunately from its last stressed vowel (/ɔɹtʃənɪtli/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of unfortunately
- more unfortunately comparative
- most unfortunately superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unfortunately mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
Happening through bad luck, or because of some unfortunate event.
He unfortunately placed his hand on a loose brick.
- 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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate unfortunately?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of unfortunately: unforch, unfort.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unfortunately in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense happening through bad luck:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | malheureusement, malencontreusement |
| German | leider, unglücklicherweise, bedauerlicherweise |
| Portuguese | infelizmente |
| Spanish | desafortunadamente, desgraciadamente, lamentablemente, por desgracia, infortunadamente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does unfortunately come from?
From unfortunate + -ly or un- + fortunately.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).