fortunately
Americanadverb
adverb
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(sentence modifier) it is fortunate that; luckily
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in a fortunate manner
Etymology
Origin of fortunately
First recorded in 1540–60; fortunate ( def. ) + -ly ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“I fortunately escaped without a wound, though the right wing where I stood was exposed to and received all the enemy’s fire,” he wrote after a 1754 skirmish with the French.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
The rest of the team did not acknowledge him and I was seething, but fortunately I decided to wait before dealing with him.
From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026
Fascist regimes of the last century were much shorter-lived, fortunately.
From Barron's • Jan. 23, 2026
But fortunately, I’ve been very interested in two new themes that are going to be sure to produce blockbusters, which is memory and regret.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 19, 2025
Every other night for the next two weeks, I tell Mother I’m off to feed the hungry at the Canton Presbyterian Church, where we, fortunately, know not a soul.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
