regret

Meaning

Verb

1. To feel sorry about (a thing that has or has not happened), afterthink: to wish that a thing had not happened, that something else had happened instead.
2. (broadly) To feel sorry about (any thing).
3. (archaic, transitive) To miss; to feel the loss or absence of; to mourn.

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) Emotional pain on account of something done or experienced in the past, with a wish that it had been different; a looking back with dissatisfaction or with longing.
2. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) Dislike; aversion.
3. (countable, uncountable) The amount of avoidable loss that results from choosing the wrong action.
4. (countable, uncountable) A person invited to an event who was unable to attend, but notified the organizer of this beforehand; a nonattendee.

Synonyms

sorrow

repent

remorse

rue

be sorry

repentance

sorry

grieve

feel sorrow

feel sorry

lament

deplore

compunction

mourn

disappointment

reluctance

grief

be sad

be sorrowful

be sorry about

feel remorse

repent of

contrition

sadness

pity

penitence

miss

anguish

bewail

begrudge

resent

ruefulness

remorseful

pain

feel sad

sorrowfulness

woe

be grieved

complaint

complain

unhappiness

dissatisfaction

yearn for

be depressed

clean

chagrin

pine away

attachment

lamentation

bitterness

Translations

regret

regretter

bedauern

lamentar

bereuen

Bedauern

sentir

Reue

repentir

pentirsi

betreuren

rimpiangere

rimpianto

spijt

arrepentirse

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ɹɪˈɡɹɛt/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: regretten

Cognate with Old High German: grāzan

Cognate with Old English: grǣtan

Cognate with Old English: grēotan

Cognate with Old Norse: gráta

Cognate with Gothic: 𐌲𐍂𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽

In summary

From Middle English regretten, regreten, from Old French regreter, regrater (“to lament”), from re- (intensive prefix) + *greter, *grater (“to weep”), from Frankish *grātan (“to weep, mourn, lament”), from Proto-Germanic *grētaną (“to weep”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰreh₁d- (“to sound”); and Frankish *greutan (“to cry, weep”), from Proto-Germanic *greutaną (“to weep, cry”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrewd- (“to weep, be sad”), equivalent to re- + greet. Cognate with Old High German grāzan (“to cry”), Old English grǣtan (“to weep, greet”), Old English grēotan (“to weep, lament”), Old Norse gráta (“to weep, groan”), Gothic 𐌲𐍂𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽 (grētan, “to weep”). More at greet.