Luckily

How to spell luckily

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce luckily

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does luckily mean?

1. adverbBy good fortune; it is fortunate that something happened.

Luckily in a sentence

• Luckily the train was delayed too, so she still caught her connection.

• The storm passed quickly, and luckily no homes were damaged.

Where does luckily come from?

Language of origin: Dutch

The word ultimately rests on the noun 'luck', which English borrowed in the late Middle Ages, probably from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German 'luk', a shortened form of 'gheluk' meaning 'good fortune' or 'happiness'. The term seems to have entered English through gambling and dice-playing circles, where talk of fortune was constant, which is why it carries that flavour of chance rather than earned reward. Once 'luck' was established, English added the native adjective ending '-y' to make 'lucky' (fortunate), and then the adverb ending '-ly' to give 'luckily'. The doubled spelling oddity that catches writers is the shift from 'luck' to 'lucki-': the adjective 'lucky' ends in '-y', and when '-ly' is added that '-y' regularly changes to '-i', giving 'luckily' rather than 'luckyly'. Recognising that the word is built in layers, luck, then lucky, then luckily, is the surest way to remember why there is an 'i' in the middle.

How the word is built

• luck (chance, fortune)
• -y (adjective: lucky)
• -ly (adverb suffix)