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Ruefully vs Sadly - What's the difference?

ruefully | sadly |

As adverbs the difference between ruefully and sadly

is that ruefully is in a rueful manner; causing, feeling or expressing regret or sorrow while sadly is in a sad manner; sorrowfully.

ruefully

English

Adverb

(en adverb)
  • In a rueful manner; causing, feeling or expressing regret or sorrow.
    • He smiled ruefully at me.

    Synonyms

    * (l), (l), (l), (l)

    sadly

    English

    Adverb

    (en-adv)
  • In a sad manner; sorrowfully.
  • Unfortunately, sad to say.
  • :
  • :
  • *{{quote-news, year=2012, date=April 15, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC
    • , title= Tottenham 1-5 Chelsea , passage=Before kick-off, a section of Chelsea's support sadly let themselves and their club down by noisily interrupting the silence held in memory of the Hillsborough disaster and for Livorno midfielder Piermario Morosini, who collapsed and died after suffering a heart attack during a Serie B game on Saturday.}}
  • (label) Deeply, completely.
  • *:
  • *:By my feythe sayd syre launcelot in that pauelione wil I lodge alle this nyghte / and soo there he alyghte doune and tayed his hors to the pauelione / and there he vnarmed hym / and there he fond a bedde / and layd hym theryn / and felle on slepe sadly

    • Usage notes

    In sense of “unfortunately”, most often used either in the collocation “sadly mistaken” or as a (sentence adverb). See discussion of sentence modifiers at (hopefully) and (regretfully).

    Synonyms

    * (in a sad manner) (l), (l), (l), (l) (various terms for particular shades of sadness) * (unfortunately) (l), (l), (l), (l), (l)