hopefully

adverb

hope·ful·ly ˈhōp-fə-lē

Synonyms of hopefully next

: in a way that expresses desire with an expectation of fulfillment : in a hopeful manner

gazed up at us hopefully

: it is hoped : I hope : we hope

hopefully the rain will end soon

Can hopefully mean 'I hope'?: Usage Guide

In the 1960s the second sense of hopefully ("it is hoped"), which dates to the early 18th century and had been in fairly widespread use since at least the 1930s, underwent a surge in popularity. A surge of criticism followed in reaction, but the criticism took no account of the grammar of adverbs. Hopefully when used to mean "it is hoped" is a member of a class of adverbs known as disjuncts. Disjuncts serve as a means by which the author or speaker can comment directly to the reader or hearer usually on the content of the sentence to which they are attached. Many other adverbs (such as interestingly, frankly, clearly, luckily, unfortunately) are similarly used; most are so ordinary as to excite no comment or interest whatsoever. The "it is hoped" sense of hopefully is entirely standard.

Examples of hopefully in a Sentence

They gazed up at us hopefully. Hopefully, things will get better soon.

Recent Examples on the Web For example, if there’s a piece of content like the weighted average cost of capital, there are study components to help put that into greater context to hopefully increase students’ understanding. —

Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 8 Apr. 2024 Things might be finalized, hopefully to everyone’s satisfaction. —

Georgia Nicols, The Denver Post, 8 Apr. 2024 Enjoy the hopefully decent weather and bask in the partial darkness. —

Defne Karabatur, Los Angeles Times, 6 Apr. 2024 It will hopefully be released and reunite with its relatives, John explained. —

Sara Smart, CNN, 6 Apr. 2024 Of her health, a source previously told PEOPLE that Paquin will hopefully make a full recovery. —

Ingrid Vasquez, Peoplemag, 5 Apr. 2024 For instance, a law firm that only handles divorce cases will likely—and hopefully—have a low client retention rate. —

Daniel Farrar, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024 But fan enthusiasm can make these scraps of music go viral anyway, especially on TikTok, sending artists scrambling to write another verse, record a full song, and release it as soon as possible — hopefully to a rapturous reception. —

Elias Leight, Billboard, 28 Mar. 2024 Gabriel said the bill hopefully will ensure better legal outcomes for other Californian families who have suffered politically motivated thefts — whether past, present or in the future. —

Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hopefully.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.