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Meaning & use

yours faithfully

phrase·AdvancedformalBritish

Last updated

UK/ˌjɔːz ˈfeɪθfəli/
US/ˌjʊrz ˈfeɪθfəli/

Meanings

  1. phrasefixed phraseformalBritish

    A polite phrase used to end a formal letter when you have not named the person you are writing to.

    Grammar: It stands alone at the end of a letter, followed by your signature; it never takes an object.

    Patterns

    • Yours faithfully, + your name
    • begin with Dear Sir/Dear Madam and end with Yours faithfully

    Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing to complain about the delay. Yours faithfully, J. Okoro.

    Because she did not know the manager's name, she opened with 'Dear Sir' and closed with 'Yours faithfully'.

    In British business letters, 'Yours faithfully' is the usual sign-off when the greeting does not include a name.

  2. phrasefixed phrasehumorous

    Used humorously or ironically at the end of a message to suggest exaggerated politeness.

    Grammar: Still a standalone closing; the joke comes from using formal letter language in a casual message.

    Please stop leaving your dirty cups on my desk. Yours faithfully, your long-suffering colleague.

    He ended the group chat with 'Yours faithfully' to make his complaint sound ridiculously official.

Common combinations

Yours faithfully, + name
The letter ended 'Yours faithfully, A. Patel' because the writer had used 'Dear Sir'.
Dear Sir or Madam ... Yours faithfully
Her email began 'Dear Sir or Madam' and finished 'Yours faithfully', as the company had not given a contact name.
end/close with Yours faithfully
Always close with Yours faithfully when the person's name is unknown to you.
Yours faithfully in a covering letter
He checked that his covering letter used 'Yours faithfully' rather than 'Yours sincerely'.
sign off with Yours faithfully
British applicants often sign off with Yours faithfully when the advertisement gives no name.

Synonyms and how they differ

Yours sincerely
Use this instead when your letter starts with the reader's actual name, such as 'Dear Ms Chen'.
Sincerely yours
The common American version; it can be used whether or not you know the reader's name.
Yours truly
An older, more old-fashioned closing that is now mainly seen in American business letters.

Word family

faithful adjective
Loyal and reliable; the adjective that 'faithfully' comes from.
faithfully adverb
In a loyal or accurate way, as in 'she followed the recipe faithfully'.
faithfulness noun
The quality of being loyal or accurate.

Commonly confused: yours faithfully or Yours sincerely? yours faithfully or Faithfully?

yours faithfully vs Yours sincerely

Both are formal closings, but 'Yours sincerely' matches a greeting that names the reader, while 'Yours faithfully' matches 'Dear Sir' or 'Dear Madam'.

yours faithfully vs Faithfully

The adverb on its own means 'loyally' or 'accurately'; only the full phrase 'Yours faithfully' works as a letter closing.

Practice

You are writing a British job application that starts 'Dear Sir or Madam'. Which closing fits best?

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “yours faithfully”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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