Unfortunately in different languages

Unfortunately in Different Languages

Discover 'Unfortunately' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.

Updated on March 6, 2024

The word 'unfortunately' is a common English term used to express regret or a sense of loss. It's a word that signifies a less-than-ideal situation, and is used in everyday conversations and written communications. But did you know that this word has cultural importance across the globe?

Throughout history, 'unfortunately' has been used in literature and speeches to convey disappointment or remorse. From Shakespearean sonnets to modern-day political speeches, this word has stood the test of time. And as our world becomes more interconnected, understanding the nuances of language becomes even more important.

That's why it's fascinating to explore the translation of 'unfortunately' in different languages. For example, in Spanish, 'unfortunately' is 'desafortunadamente', while in French, it's 'malheureusement'. In German, it's 'leider', and in Japanese, it's '悲しみに'. Each language has its own unique way of expressing disappointment or regret, and understanding these translations can help us better connect with people from different cultures.

So whether you're a language enthusiast, a world traveler, or just someone looking to expand your cultural knowledge, exploring the translation of 'unfortunately' in different languages is a great place to start.

Unfortunately


Unfortunately in Sub-Saharan African Languages

Afrikaansongelukkig
The Afrikaans word "Ongelukkig" comes from the Dutch word "ongelukkig," which also means "unfortunate" but is derived from the German word "unglücklich," meaning "not lucky" or "unhappy."
Amharicበሚያሳዝን ሁኔታ
The word "በሚያሳዝን ሁኔታ" can be used to refer to something that is not actually unfortunate, such as a good joke.}
Hausarashin alheri
The Hausa word "rashin alheri" also means "lack of well-being" or "bad fortune."
Igbodị mwute ikwu na
Malagasyindrisy
"Indrisy" originates from the Proto-Austronesian word "indu" meaning "pain" or "misery", and it still has this meaning in Malagasy as a standalone word.
Nyanja (Chichewa)mwatsoka
The word "mwatsoka" in Nyanja (Chichewa) is derived from the verb "kuchokera," meaning "to come from" or "to originate from."
Shonazvinosuruvarisa
Zvinosuruvarisa is derived from the word suruvara meaning 'to grieve', implying a feeling of deep sadness or regret.
Somalinasiib daro
Nasiib daro is a Somali term derived from "nasiib" (fate, destiny) and "daro" (black), implying a negative turn of fate.
Sesothoka bomalimabe
The word "ka bomalimabe" is also used to express regret, disapproval, or disappointment.
Swahilikwa bahati mbaya
The Swahili word "kwa bahati mbaya" literally means "by bad luck" or "by misfortune."
Xhosangelishwa
The Xhosa word "ngelishwa" derives from the verb "ukulila," meaning "to cry," and thus signifies a state of sadness or regret.
Yorubalaanu
"Laanu" also means "to reject" or "to curse".
Zulungeshwa
The word 'ngeshwa' in Zulu is derived from the verb 'gesha', meaning 'to miss' or 'to fail', and it is used to express regret or sorrow over something that has not happened as desired.
Bambarakunagoya
Ewedzᴐgbevᴐetᴐ
Kinyarwandakubwamahirwe
Lingalaeza mawa
Lugandaeky'embi
Sepedika madimabe
Twi (Akan)nanso

Unfortunately in North African & Middle Eastern Languages

Arabicلسوء الحظ
The phrase "لسوء الحظ" originally meant "in the evil eye" in Arabic.
Hebrewלצערי
The word "לצערי" can also mean "to my regret" or "I'm sorry".
Pashtoبدبختانه
Alternately, "بدبختانه" (badbakhtāna) may convey "inauspiciously," "unpropitiously," or, colloquially, "unluckily."
Arabicلسوء الحظ
The phrase "لسوء الحظ" originally meant "in the evil eye" in Arabic.

Unfortunately in Western European Languages

Albanianpër fat të keq
Basquezoritxarrez
"Zor" means luck in old Basque, but "zori" means bad luck or misfortune.
Catalanper desgràcia
The Catalan phrase "per desgràcia" ("unfortunately") comes from the Latin phrase "per desgraciam," meaning "by misfortune."
Croatiannažalost
"Nažalost" is a compound of the preposition "na" (on, upon) and the noun "žalost" (sadness, grief), so it literally means "on sadness".
Danishuheldigvis
The word "uheldigvis" derives from the Old Danish word "uhæppeligvis", meaning "unexpectedly" or "coincidentally".
Dutchhelaas
"Helaas" is etymologically related to "heil," meaning "salvation," and originally meant "lacking salvation."
Englishunfortunately
The word "unfortunately" has two possible etymologies, either both "un- + fortune" and "un- + fortunately."
Frenchmalheureusement
Malheureusement, or 'unhappily' in French, also carries the meaning of 'not being in a good position' from its Latin root 'male positus'.
Frisianspitigernôch
The compound Frisian word 'spitigernôch' combines the morphemes 'spit' (spite) and 'gernôch' (enough), conveying a sense of excessive unhappiness.
Galiciandesafortunadamente
The Galician word "Desafortunadamente" ultimately comes from the Latin word "fortunatus," meaning "lucky" or "fortunate."
Germanunglücklicherweise
“Unglücklicherweise” etymologically translates as “luckless”; the “-lich” ending in German usually denotes similarity or affinity with a concept, rather than the more straightforward “-ly” ending in English.
Icelandicþví miður
Því miður is composed of the accusative of the demonstrative pronoun því, and miður, which derives from the comparative form of the Old Norse adjective smár, "small, scant, narrow".
Irishar an drochuair
The Gaelic 'ar an drochuair' derives from 'ar an droichead' ('on the bridge') and connotes the notion of being 'stuck' in an unfortunate situation
Italiansfortunatamente
"Sfortunatamente" derives from the Latin "fortuna," or "fate," meaning "without luck."
Luxembourgishleider
The word "leider" in Luxembourgish is derived from the German word "leider", which means "unfortunately" or "sadly".
Maltesesfortunatament
"Sfortunatament," in Maltese, also signifies "by accident" or "by chance," emphasizing the unpredictable nature of misfortune.
Norwegiandessverre
Dessverre originates from the Old Norse words "at verri" meaning "to make it worse".
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil)infelizmente
The Portuguese word "infelizmente" derives from Latin "infamis", meaning "without reputation".
Scots Gaelicgu mì-fhortanach
The Scots Gaelic term "gu mì-fhortanach" evolved from "gu mì-fhòirtineach," meaning "lacking protection," and took on its current sense of "unfortunate" via semantic broadening.
Spanishdesafortunadamente
'Desafortunadamente' derives from 'de-+a-+fortis-unatus,' meaning 'born with no fortune or luck'.
Swedishtyvärr
"Tyvärr" is a contraction of "ty" (bad) and "värre" (worse).
Welshyn anffodus
The word "yn anffodus" in Welsh is an adverb that means "unfortunately", "sadly", or "regrettably".

Unfortunately in Eastern European Languages

Belarusianна жаль
“На жаль”, помимо своего основного значения “не к добру” или “несчастный”, в некоторых диалектах означает также “хорошо”, “к счастью”.
Bosniannažalost
"Na žalost", "unfortunately", is a compound of "na", "on", and "žalost", "sadness, sorrow, pity", from Proto-Slavic žalosьtь, a derivative of Proto-Indo-European ǵʰélH- "to feel sorrow".
Bulgarianза жалост
The word "за жалост" is a compound of the preposition "за" (for) and the noun "жалост" (pity, regret), and can also mean "regrettably".
Czechbohužel
The word "bohužel" is derived from the Old Czech word "bohu" (meaning "God") and the suffix "-žel" (meaning "pity"), hence its literal meaning is "God's pity".
Estoniankahjuks
The word "kahjuks" in Estonian has multiple meanings, including "unfortunately", "regrettably", and "to one's detriment."
Finnishvalitettavasti
The Finnish word "valitettavasti" is derived from the noun "valitus" (complaint) and the suffix "-sti" (manner), indicating a regrettable or unfortunate situation.
Hungariansajnálatos módon
The word Sajnálatos módon is derived from the Hungarian words "sajnálat" (pity, regret) and "módon" (manner, way), suggesting a sense of remorse or disappointment.
Latviandiemžēl
It consists of the words "dievs" (god) and "žēl" (pity), thus the full meaning translates as "it is a pity for god."
Lithuaniandeja
"Deja" derives from Lithuanian "deja" (literally "therefore, hence, so") from Proto-Indo-European "*dei-dʰeh₁" meaning "to put, set, place".
Macedonianза жал
The word "за жал" is a contraction of "за жалост," which literally means "for pity" or "for regret."
Polishniestety
Niestety comes from the Old Polish word 'nie szczescie,' meaning 'not fortune.
Romaniandin pacate
The Romanian expression 'Din păcate', meaning "Unfortunately", stems from "Din păcat". "Păcat" is the cognate with the Slavic "grijeh," which in Old Slavic could also signify a misfortune or mishap, but now in Slavic mostly means "sin".
Russianк сожалению
The word "К сожалению" originally meant "with shame" and was associated with the word "жаль" (pity, regret).
Serbianнажалост
The word "нажалост" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *žalъ, meaning "sorrow" or "pity".
Slovakbohužiaľ
The word "bohužiaľ" is derived from the words "boh" ("god") and "žiaľ" ("pity"), implying that something is regrettable or unfortunate by divine will.
Slovenianna žalost
The phrase "na žalost" is derived from the combination of the preposition "na" (meaning "on") and the word "žalost" (meaning "sorrow"). It is primarily used to express sadness, disappointment, or regret.
Ukrainianна жаль
"На жаль" in Ukrainian can also mean "please" when used at the end of a sentence.

Unfortunately in South Asian Languages

Bengaliদুর্ভাগ্যক্রমে
The word দুর্ভাগ্যক্রমে can also mean 'due to bad luck' or 'by chance' in Bengali.
Gujaratiકમનસીબે
The Gujarati word "કમનસીબે" ("kamnasibe") is derived from the Persian phrase "kam-nasīb" meaning "less-fortunate" or "having less luck".
Hindiदुर्भाग्य से
The word "दुर्भाग्य से" (dubhāgye se) literally translates to "from ill fortune" or "by misfortune" in Hindi.
Kannadaದುರದೃಷ್ಟವಶಾತ್
"ದುರದೃಷ್ಟ" means 'misfortune' or 'bad luck', while "ವಶಾತ್" means 'at the mercy of' or 'under the control of'.
Malayalamനിർഭാഗ്യവശാൽ
Marathiदुर्दैवाने
दुर्दैवाने is derived from the Sanskrit words दुर् (dur), meaning "difficult," and दैव (daiva), meaning "fate," implying something that happens against one's will.
Nepaliदुर्भाग्यवश
दुर्भाग्यवश is derived from the Sanskrit words दुर्गति (misfortune) and वश (under the control of).
Punjabiਬਦਕਿਸਮਤੀ ਨਾਲ
Its alternate meanings include: sadly, distressingly, pitiably, unhappily, regrettably.
Sinhala (Sinhalese)අවාසනාවට
In astrology, "අවාසනාවට" describes the position of a weak planet in a chart, and thus can be interpreted as "auspiciously."
Tamilஎதிர்பாராதவிதமாக
The Tamil verb அதுறைர் ("eti pு par") literally means "opposite,"}
Teluguదురదృష్టవశాత్తు
Urduبدقسمتی سے
The word "بدقسمتی سے" in Urdu can also be translated as "by ill luck" or "with misfortune."

Unfortunately in East Asian Languages

Chinese (Simplified)不幸
不幸 ('bùxìng') also means 'not lucky' or 'unfortunate'.
Chinese (Traditional)不幸
The word "不幸" can also mean "unhappiness" or "misfortune".
Japanese残念ながら
残念 (zannen) derives from Sanskrit, and originally meant 'to abandon', while 後 (go) means 'afterward'.
Korean운수 나쁘게
운수 나쁘게 is an adverbial phrase which literally means 'bad way of luck' in Korean.
Mongolianхарамсалтай нь
The phrase "харамсалтай нь" is an idiom that literally translates to "regrettably" or "pity".
Myanmar (Burmese)ကံမကောင်း
This Burmese (Myanmar) term can literally be broken down as either "karma is no-good" or in a more literary sense as either "auspicious moment/fate had no effect (on this)" or "auspicious moment/fate had an inappropriate role (in this)"

Unfortunately in South East Asian Languages

Indonesiansayangnya
In Indonesian, "sayangnya" can also mean "too bad" or express regret.
Javanesesayangé
“Sayangé” is derived from the Sanskrit word “sajjanaka”, meaning “good person” or “virtuous”.
Khmerជាអកុសល
The word "ជាអកុសល" comes from the Pali word "akusala" which means "evil" or "unskillful".
Laoແຕ່ໂຊກບໍ່ດີ
Malaymalangnya
The Malay word "malangnya" (meaning "unfortunately") derives from the Proto-Malayo-Polynesian root word "*malaŋ,
Thaiน่าเสียดาย
The term "น่าเสียดาย" can also refer to a feeling of regret, pity, or sorrow.
Vietnamesekhông may
The word "không may" can also mean "unlucky" or "misfortunate".
Filipino (Tagalog)sa kasamaang palad

Unfortunately in Central Asian Languages

Azerbaijanitəəssüf ki
The word "təəssüf ki" is derived from the Arabic word "taʼassuf" meaning "regret" or "sorrow".
Kazakhөкінішке орай
Kyrgyzтилекке каршы
The word "тилекке каршы" can also mean "unexpectedly" or "contrary to expectations".
Tajikбадбахтона
The word "бадбахтона" ("unfortunately") is derived from the Persian phrase "بدبختانه" ("miserably").
Turkmengynansakda
Uzbekafsuski
The word "afsuski" is derived from the Arabic word "afsus", which means "grief" or "regret".
Uyghurبەختكە قارشى

Unfortunately in Pacific Languages

Hawaiianminamina
'Minamina' in Hawaiian can also mean 'in sorrow' or 'with regret'.
Maoriheoi
The word "heoi" can also mean "but" or "however" in Maori.
Samoanpaga lea
"Paga lea" can also mean "to speak the wrong language, to speak foolishly, or to speak out of turn".
Tagalog (Filipino)sa kasamaang palad
Sa kasamaang palad can also mean, coincidentally, as it is composed of the prefix "sa" (in/within/by/during) and "kasamaan" (evil/bad thing), in which the prefix connotes "unintentionally" or "by chance"

Unfortunately in American Indigenous Languages

Aymarajan wakiskiri
Guaraniañarã

Unfortunately in International Languages

Esperantobedaŭrinde
"Bedaŭrinde" is derived from the Esperanto root "bedaŭr", which means "to regret" or "to deplore."
Latinquod valde dolendum
The phrase "quod valde dolendum" literally means "which is very much to be grieved."

Unfortunately in Others Languages

Greekδυστυχώς
Δυστυχώς means "difficult to bear" in Greek, which is a more literal translation that hints at the suffering that misfortune brings.
Hmonghmoov tsis txog
The word 'hmoov tsis txog' can have other meanings depending on which language is being used.
Kurdishmixabîn
The word “mixabîn” in Kurdish means “unfortunately,” but it can also be used to express feelings of regret or disappointment.
Turkishne yazık ki
The word "ne yazık ki" originally meant "what a pity," and is derived from the Arabic phrase "mā 'aṣfaa."
Xhosangelishwa
The Xhosa word "ngelishwa" derives from the verb "ukulila," meaning "to cry," and thus signifies a state of sadness or regret.
Yiddishליידער
The Yiddish word "ליידער" not only means "unfortunately" but also "sadly" or "regrettably."
Zulungeshwa
The word 'ngeshwa' in Zulu is derived from the verb 'gesha', meaning 'to miss' or 'to fail', and it is used to express regret or sorrow over something that has not happened as desired.
Assameseদুৰ্ভাগ্যবশতঃ
Aymarajan wakiskiri
Bhojpuriदुर्भाग से
Dhivehiކަންދިމާކުރިގޮތުން
Dogriबदनसीबी कन्नै
Filipino (Tagalog)sa kasamaang palad
Guaraniañarã
Ilocanodaksanggasat
Krioi sɔri fɔ no se
Kurdish (Sorani)بەداخەوە
Maithiliदुर्भाग्यपूर्ण
Meiteilon (Manipuri)ꯂꯥꯏꯕꯛ ꯊꯤꯕꯗꯤ
Mizovanduaithlak takin
Oromokan hin eegamne
Odia (Oriya)ଦୁର୍ଭାଗ୍ୟବଶତ। |
Quechuamana samiyuq
Sanskritदौर्भाग्यवशात्‌
Tatarкызганычка каршы
Tigrinyaብዘሕዝን
Tsongankateko-khombo

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