Definition of "ruefully" [ruefully]

• In a rueful manner; causing, feeling, or expressing regret or sorrow. (adverb)

Wiktionary.org : Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

• "Then, turning to ride back into Oakland, a thought came to him that made him grin ruefully as he muttered: And now it's up to me to make good and buy that blamed quarry."
• "In the revised edition (1992) of his book Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage, the sociologist Andrew Cherlin ruefully comments: If there were a truth-in-labeling law for books, the title of this edition should be something long and unwieldy like Cohabitation, Marriage, Divorce, More"
• "He reiterated, as well, his devotion to non-violent principles, recalling ruefully that when Tibetans briefly resorted to political force in an uprising in the 1950s the result was "more suppression, more control, more rigidity" – and a half-million dead."