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hopefully

adverb

Simple meaning

It is hoped that.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

hohpfuhlee

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈhoʊpfəli

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adverb

  1. not comparable

    It is hoped that; I hope; we hope.

    “Hopefully the weather will be fine on Sunday.”

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

This meaning: (not comparable) It is hoped that; I hope; we hope.

Used this way, hopefully is a common word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It carries warmth, so it reads as personal rather than detached.

Heard in a sentence
“Hopefully the weather will be fine on Sunday.”
Emotional tone
Positive
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Moderate
How common
Common
Connotation
Hopeful and forward-looking
Usage feel
Warm and expressive

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use hopefully

  • “Hopefully the weather will be fine on Sunday.”adverb
  • “We searched hopefully for a good position.”adverb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

looked hopefullyforward hopefully

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • hopefuladjectiveBase word

    Having or manifesting hope.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.