hopefully

adverb

1)

he rode on hopefully

Syn:

optimistically, full of hope, confidently, buoyantly, sanguinely; expectantly

2)

hopefully it will finish soon

Syn:

if all goes well, God willing, with luck, with any luck; most likely, probably; conceivably, feasibly; informal knock on wood, fingers crossed

••

hopefully

Four points about this word: First, it was widely condemned from the 1960s to the 1980s. Briefly, the objections are that (1) hopefully properly means "in a hopeful manner" and shouldn't be used in the radically different sense "I hope" or "it is to be hoped"; (2) if the extended sense is accepted, the original sense will be forever lost; and (3) in constructions such as "Hopefully, it won't rain this afternoon", the writer illogically ascribes an emotion (hopefulness) to a nonperson. Hopefully isn't analogous to curiously (= it is a curious fact that), fortunately (= it is a fortunate thing that), and sadly (= it is a sad fact that). How so? Unlike all those other sentence adverbs, hopefully can't be resolved into any longer expression involving the word hopeful — but only hope (e.g., it is to be hoped that or I hope that).

Second, whatever the merits of those arguments, the battle is now over. Hopefully is now a part of American English, and it has all but lost its traditional meaning — e.g.: "Hopefully, one day we will all grow older." (San Diego Union-Tribune; Nov. 26, 1997.) Sometimes, the word is genuinely ambiguous (if the original meaning is considered still alive) — e.g.: "Dave Krieg will take the snaps and, hopefully, hand off to RB Garrison Hearst." (USA Today; Sept. 1, 1995.) (Is Krieg hoping for the best when Hearst runs? Or is the writer hoping that Krieg won't pass the football or hand off to another running back?) Indeed, the original meaning of hopefully is alive, even if moribund — e.g.: "Officials recently have pointed hopefully to signs of increased usage of the garage." (Boston Globe; Oct. 9, 1994.)

Third, some stalwarts continue to condemn the word, so that anyone using it in the new sense is likely to have a credibility problem with some readers — e.g.

• "Professor Michael Dummett, an Oxford logician, condemns the new usage of hopefully because only a person can be hopeful, and in many such cases there is nobody around in the sentence to be hopeful." (Daily Telegraph [UK]; Dec. 11, 1996.)

• "Although various adverbs may be used to modify entire clauses, hopefully isn't among them — yet. I only hope I won't have to concede that it is until I’m an old, old woman." (Barbara Wallraff, Word Court; 2000.)

Fourth, though the controversy swirling around this word has subsided, any use of it is likely to distract some readers. Avoid it in all senses if you’re concerned with your credibility: if you use it in the traditional way, many readers will think it odd; if you use it in the newish way, a few readers will tacitly tut-tut you.

Throughout the late twentieth century, the common wisdom was that the use of hopefully as a sentence adverb had begun sometime around the early 1930s. Then, in 1999, a lexicographic scholar named Fred Shapiro, using computer-assisted research, traced it back to Cotton Mather's 1702 book, Magnalia Christi Americana, in this sentence: "Chronical diseases, which evidently threaten his Life, might hopefully be relieved by his removal." The evidence then skips to 1851, then to the 1930s. — BG