desværre

Danish

Etymology

Equivalent to des (“the (adverb)”) +‎ værre (“worse”). From Old Danish thi ver, from Old Norse því verr, cognate with Norwegian Bokmål dessverre, Swedish tyvärr, dessvärre. In the modern form the old dative thi (still extant as a conjunction) has been replaced by the old genitive des, which is used as an adverb with comparatives.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /desvɛrə/, [d̥eˈsʋaɐ̯ɐ]

Adverb

desværre

1. regrettably, unfortunately

References

• “desværre” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “desværre” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog