thankfully
/ˈθaŋkfʊli
/ /ˈθaŋkf(ə)li/adverb
1In a thankful manner: she thankfully accepted the armchair she was offered...
- Ever the gentleman he offered her an arm for support and she accepted thankfully.
- The robberies took place during a funeral and any information will be thankfully accepted.
1.1 [sentence adverb] Used to express pleasure or relief at a fortunate outcome: thankfully, everything went smoothly...
- The instruments had cost Benedict a fortune, but thankfully he was already a millionaire.
- Cake forks and serviettes were provided, thankfully not placed under the buttered teacake!
- It is so easy for it to happen, as we have seen here, but thankfully this case ended happily.
Usage
Thankfully has been used for centuries to mean ‘in a thankful manner’, as in she accepted the offer thankfully. Since the 1960s it has also been used as a sentence adverb to mean ‘fortunately’, as in thankfully, we didn’t have to wait. Although this use has not attracted the same amount of attention as hopefully, it has been criticized for the same reasons. It is, however, far commoner now than the traditional use, accounting for more than 80 per cent of citations for thankfully in the Oxford English Corpus. For further explanation, see hopefully (usage).
Origin
Old English thancfullīce (see thankful, -ly2).