| Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993. |
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| regretful, regrettable (adjs.), regretfully, regrettably (advs.) |
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| Regretful means “feeling or showing regret,” as in She had a regretful frown on her face; regrettable means “unfortunate” or “contributing to regret,” as in She wrote a regrettable letter, one that caused a lot of trouble. The adverbs regretfully and regrettably reflect similar distinctions; both can serve as sentence adverbs as well as in other adverbial roles: Regretfully, she made her apologies and left. Regrettably, he forgot to thank her for her help. She spoke regretfully and wearily. His remarks were regrettably insolent. See also CONSONANTS (2). | 1 |
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| | | The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993 Columbia University Press. |
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