tyvärr

Swedish

Etymology

Contraction of ty värr 'the worse', from Old Swedish thy vær, from Old Norse því verr. Compare Danish desværre, Norwegian Bokmål dessverre and Norwegian Nynorsk diverre, and Icelandic því miður. See Icelandic því and Proto-Germanic *wirsizô (“worse”) for more on the components.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adverb

tyvärr (not comparable)

1. unfortunately
   • 1901, August Strindberg, Ett drömspel:

     Så går färden till din död som tyvärr blir andras bröd!

     So goes the journey to your death, which unfortunately becomes other people's bread!

Interjection

tyvärr

1. sorry, unfortunately not

   Är han här?

   (nej)Tyvärr.

   Is he here?

   Unfortunately not.

Further reading

• tyvärr in Svensk ordbok.