Standard Lemma guide

thankfully

adv · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: TH AE1 NG K F AH0 L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adv

Meaning 1

In a thankful manner; giving thanks.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adv

Meaning 2

fortunately, gratefully.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: proscribed, sometimes

Examples

  • I was almost late for work, but thankfully there wasn't much traffic on the roads.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adverb

Meaning 3

let us be thankful that

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • thankfully he didn't come to the party

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adverb

Meaning 4

in a thankful manner; with thanks

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he accepted thankfully my apologies

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: gratefully

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English thankfully, thankefully, þonkfulliche, from Old English þancfullīċe, equivalent to thankful + -ly.

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Dutch: gelukkig — fortunately
  • Finnish: onneksi — fortunately
  • Georgian: საბედნიეროდ (sabednierod) — fortunately
  • German: Gott sei Dank — fortunately
  • German: glücklich — fortunately
  • Hungarian: szerencsére — fortunately
  • Hungarian: hál' istennek — fortunately
  • Icelandic: sem betur fer — fortunately
  • Irish: ar ámharaí an tsaoil — fortunately
  • Italian: fortunatamente — fortunately
  • Polish: na szczęście — fortunately
  • Russian: сла́ва бо́гу (sláva bógu) — fortunately
  • Spanish: afortunadamente — fortunately
  • Spanish: gracias a Dios — fortunately
  • Swedish: tack och lov — fortunately