thankfully

thankfully
thankfully
has been used as an ordinary adverb of manner since Anglo-Saxon times, and is still current in this meaning:

• ‘Until Friday,’ said Mrs Marsh, and shut the door thankfully behind her —Anita Brookner, 1992.

Since the 1960s, it has developed the additional role of sentence adverb, in which it qualifies a whole statement and reflects the opinion of the speaker rather than modifying anything contained within the statement:

• Thankfully, however, the old style has not entirely disappeared —Daily Telegraph, 1982.

Though frowned on from time to time, thankfully has not attracted the venom that hopefully has; this may well be to do with the meanings of the two words and the associations each has (thankfully expresses relief whereas hopefully raises doubts). For more on this issue in its context, see hopefully, sentence adverbs.

Modern English usage. 2014.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • thankfully — [thaŋk′fə lē] adv. 1. in a thankful way 2. one is or should be thankful (that) [thankfully, the child was found] * * * See thankful. * * * …   Universalium

  • thankfully — thankfully; un·thankfully; …   English syllables

  • thankfully — [thaŋk′fə lē] adv. 1. in a thankful way 2. one is or should be thankful (that) [thankfully, the child was found] …   English World dictionary

  • thankfully — ► ADVERB 1) in a thankful manner. 2) fortunately …   English terms dictionary

  • thankfully — adverb Date: before 12th century 1. in a thankful manner < spoke thankfully > 2. as makes one thankful < graceless stadiums…thankfully going out of fashion R. G. Echevarriá > < thankfully, those opinions are advanced with graceful prose Ken… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • thankfully — [[t]θæ̱ŋkfʊli[/t]] ADV: ADV with cl/group You use thankfully in order to express approval or happiness about a statement that you are making. Thankfully, she was not injured... The next day dawned, thankfully with a drop in wind and waves …   English dictionary

  • thankfully — thank|ful|ly [ˈθæŋkfəli] adv 1.) [sentence adverb] used to say that you are glad that something has happened, especially because a difficult situation has ended or been avoided ▪ Thankfully, I managed to pay off all my debts before we got married …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • thankfully — thank|ful|ly [ θæŋkfəli ] adverb 1. ) used for saying you are pleased that something unpleasant is no longer happening or did not happen: Thankfully the boys are safe. 2. ) in a grateful way: They thankfully accepted the soup and warm clothing …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • thankfully — adverb 1》 in a thankful manner. 2》 fortunately. Usage Thankfully has long been used to mean ‘in a thankful manner’. Since the 1960s it has also been used to mean ‘fortunately’, as in thankfully, we didn t have to wait. Although this use is… …   English new terms dictionary

  • thankfully — adverb 1 (sentence adverb) used to say that you are glad that something has happened, especially because a difficult situation has ended or been avoided: Thankfully, I managed to pay off all my debts before we got married. 2 feeling grateful and… …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

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