hope ‧ ful ‧ ly S1 /ˈhəʊpf ə li $ ˈhoʊp-/ BrE AmE adverb
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ hope , ↑ hopefulness ≠ ↑ hopelessness , ↑ hopeful ; verb : ↑ hope ; adverb : ↑ hopefully ≠ ↑ hopelessly ; adjective : ↑ hopeful ≠ ↑ hopeless ]
1 . [sentence adverb] a way of saying what you hope will happen, which some people think is incorrect:
Hopefully, I’ll be back home by ten o‘clock.
By then the problem will hopefully have been solved.
2 . in a way that shows that you are hopeful:
‘Will there be any food left over?’ he asked hopefully.