sorrow

Meaning

Noun

1. (uncountable) unhappiness, woe
2. (countable) (usually in plural) An instance or cause of unhappiness.

Verb

1. (intransitive) To feel or express grief.
2. (transitive) To feel grief over; to mourn, regret.

Synonyms

grief

sadness

distress

regret

affliction

pain

grieve

anguish

suffering

woe

misery

lament

remorse

mourn

trouble

unhappiness

melancholy

dejection

pity

mourning

worry

depression

heartache

heartbreak

sad

☹️

despondency

lamentation

gloom

deplore

rue

bitterness

misfortune

care

sorrowfulness

anger

💢

torment

bewail

compunction

trial

ruefulness

contrition

love

❤️

concern

vexation

accident

pathos

deep sorrow

adversity

regretfulness

condolence

Translations

Kummer

Trauer

pena

dolore

tristeza

chagrin

Leid

peine

Gram

tristeza

dolor

pesar

tristesse

Betrübnis

tristezza

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈsɒɹ.əʊ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: sorow

Inherited from Old English: sorg

Cognate with Western Frisian: soarch

Cognate with Dutch: zorg

Cognate with German: Sorge

Cognate with Danish: -

Cognate with Swedish: -

Cognate with Norwegian: sorg

Cognate with Old Irish: serg

Cognate with Tokharian B: sark

Cognate with Lithuanian: sirgti

Cognate with Sanskrit: सूर्क्षति

In summary

From Middle English sorwe, sorow, sorewe, from Old English sorg, sorh (“care, anxiety, sorrow, grief”), from Proto-West Germanic *sorgu, from Proto-Germanic *surgō (compare West Frisian soarch, Dutch zorg, German Sorge, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian sorg), from Proto-Indo-European *swergʰ- (“watch over, worry; be ill, suffer”) (compare Old Irish serg (“sickness”), Tocharian B sark (“sickness”), Lithuanian sirgti (“be sick”), Sanskrit सूर्क्षति (sū́rkṣati, “worry”). Despite the similarity in form and meaning, not historically related to sorry and sore.