Meanings
comparative more hopefully · superlative most hopefully
- In a hopeful manner.First known use 17th c.
‘In fifteen minutes I will be at the carpark, sitting hopefully inside a puce Reliant Scimitar.’
1993, Alasdair Gray, “You”, in Ten Tales Tall and True - not comparableIt is hoped that; I hope; we hope.First known use 18th c.
Hopefully, my father will arrive in time for the show.
1 more example
She was buried with her mom and hopefully they are together now.
Synonyms: fingers crossed
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbIt is hoped that; I hope; we hope.
More synonyms by meaning
adverbwith hope; in a hopeful manner
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-West Germanic*tōhopōn
- Old Englishtōhopa
- Old Englishhopa
- Middle Englishhope
- Englishhope
- Proto-Indo-European*pleh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*pl̥h₁nós
- Proto-Germanic*fullaz
- Englishhopeful
- Englishhopefully
From hopeful + -ly. The use as a sentence adverb first gained currency in the United States and has been explained as a possible calque of German hoffentlich.
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic إن شاء الله
- إن شاء الله (ʔin šāʔ allāh)it is hoped that
Catalan tant de bo
- tant de boit is hoped that
Chinese Mandarin 但願 /但愿, 可望
- 但願 /但愿 (dànyuàn)it is hoped that
- 可望 (kěwàng)it is hoped that
Danish forhåbentlig
- forhåbentligit is hoped that
Dutch hoopvol, hopelijk
- hoopvolin a hopeful manner
- hopelijkit is hoped that
Esperanto espereble, espereble
- espereblein a hopeful manner
- esperebleit is hoped that
Finnish toiveikkaasti, toivottavasti
- toiveikkaastiin a hopeful manner
- toivottavastiit is hoped that
French avec un peu de chance, en espérant que ...
- avec un peu de chanceit is hoped that
- en espérant que ...it is hoped that
German hoffnungsvoll, hoffentlich
- hoffnungsvollin a hopeful manner
- hoffentlichit is hoped that
Hungarian remélhetőleg
- remélhetőlegit is hoped that
Icelandic vonandi
- vonandiit is hoped that
Italian con buone speranze, speranzosamente
- con buone speranzein a hopeful manner
- speranzosamenteit is hoped that
Japanese 願わくは, 願わくば
- 願わくは (negawaku wa)it is hoped that
- 願わくば (negawaku ba)it is hoped that
- 上手くいけば (umaku ikeba)it is hoped that
Malay semoga, mudah-mudahan
- semogait is hoped that
- mudah-mudahanit is hoped that
- moga-mogait is hoped that
Norwegian Bokmål forhåpentlig, forhåpentligvis
- forhåpentligit is hoped that
- forhåpentligvisit is hoped that
Portuguese esperançosamente, tomara
- esperançosamentein a hopeful manner
- tomarait is hoped that
- oxaláit is hoped that
- Deus te ouçait is hoped that
Russian с наде́ждой, наде́юсь
- с наде́ждой (s nadéždoj)in a hopeful manner
- наде́юсь (nadéjusʹ)it is hoped that
Spanish esperanzadamente, ojalá (que/y)
- esperanzadamentein a hopeful manner
- ojalá (que/y)it is hoped that
- Dios te oigait is hoped that
- amalayait is hoped that
- quienquitait is hoped that
Swedish hoppfullt, förhoppningsvis
- hoppfulltin a hopeful manner
- förhoppningsvisit is hoped that
- hoppeligenit is hoped that
Turkish umutla, ümitle
- umutlain a hopeful manner
- ümitlein a hopeful manner
- inşallahit is hoped that
Welsh gobeithio
- gobeithioit is hoped that
Cite this entry
hopefully. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hopefully
“hopefully.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hopefully. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hopefully,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hopefully.
Source: hopefully on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.