regret
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regret
- /ɹɪˈɡɹɛt/
- /ɹəˈɡɹɛt/
- /ɹiˈɡɹɛt/
Rhymes with -ɛt
Where it comes from
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.
verb regrets · regretting · regretted
-
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.
He regretted his words.
Similar: rue
-
To feel sorry about (any thing).
I regret that I have to do this, but I don't have a choice.
Similar: grieve, lament, aggrieve, besorrow, condole, darken, engrieve, erme, gloom, grieven, bleed, moan
- To miss; to feel the loss or absence of; to mourn. He more than ever regretted his home, and with increased desire longed to see his family.
noun regrets
-
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.
What man does not remember with regret the first time he read Robinson Crusoe?
Similar: nostalgia, remorse, repentance, unsatisfaction, agenbite, rue, ruth, compunction, contrition, guilt, penitence, self-reproach
- Dislike; aversion. Is it a vertue to have some ineffective regrets to damnation, and such a Vertue too, as shall serve to ballance all our vices?
- The amount of avoidable loss that results from choosing the wrong action. Under squared errorloss we show that there exists unique minimax regret solution for the problem of selecting the threshold.
- One who was invited to an event who was unable to attend, but notified the organizer of this beforehand; a nonattendee.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: ruefulness, repent, deplore, sorrow, lament, bemoan, bewail, rue, regrettable, remorse, pity, disapproval, spite, shame, hate, condemn
Translations
Every language
verb feel sorry about some past thing
| Español | lamentar, arrepentirse [de], repentirse [de], compungirse |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 후회하다 huhoehada |
| 日本語 | 後悔する kōkai suru, 悔いる kuiru, 残念に思う zannen ni omou |
| 中文 | 後悔 /后悔 hòuhuǐ, 遺憾 /遗憾 yíhàn |
| हिन्दी | पछताना pachtānā |
| Português | arrepender-se, lamentar |
| Français | regretter |
| Deutsch | bedauern, bereuen, leidtun |
| Italiano | rimpiangere, rammaricarsi, pentirsi, lamentare |
| Ελληνικά | μετανιώνω metanióno, λυπούμαι lypoúmai |
| Română | regreta |
| Русский | сожале́ть sožalétʹ, жале́ть žalétʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | hối tiếc, hối hận |
| العربية | نَدِمَ nadima, تَأَسَّفَ taʔassafa |
| עברית | הצטער hitsta'ér |
verb to feel sorry about anything
| Español | lamentar |
|---|---|
| हिन्दी | पछताना pachtānā |
| Português | lamentar |
| Italiano | rammaricarsi |
| Русский | сожале́ть sožalétʹ |
noun instance of such an emotion
| Español | pesar, arrepentimiento, compunción |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 후회 huhoe |
| 日本語 | 後悔 kōkai |
| 中文 | 遺憾 /遗憾 yíhàn, 後悔 /后悔 hòuhuǐ |
| हिन्दी | अफ़सोस afsos, पछतावा pachtāvā, पश्चात्ताप paścāttāp |
| Kiswahili | juto, sikitiko |
| Português | pesar, arrependimento, remorso |
| Français | regret |
| Deutsch | Reue, Bedauern |
| Italiano | rammarico, rimpianto, rimorso, pentimento |
| Ελληνικά | λύπη lýpi |
| Română | regret |
| Русский | сожале́ние sožalénije |
| العربية | أَسَف ʔasaf, تَأَسُّف taʔassuf |
| עברית | חֲרָטָה harata |
Talk about this word "regret." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/regret. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. regret. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/regret "regret." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/regret.Cite this
@misc{regret_2026,
title = {regret},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/regret},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
