woe is me
English · Thesaurus
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woe is me
- /ˌwəʊ ɪz ˈmiː/ UK
- /ˌwoʊ ɪz ˈmi/ US
Where it comes from
The pronoun me in this expression is not semantically vacuous beyond its reference to the first person singular (and thus simply equated with the subject by copular be, as in this is me), but a relational dative (literally woe is to me, i.e. woe is upon me; compare German weh mir). Cognate with Yiddish וויי איז מיר (vey iz mir).
interjection woe is I
-
Used to show that the speaker feels distress or misery; humorous use usually also signals self-awareness regarding excessive self-pity.
Blasted with extasie. Oh, woe is me,
T'haue seene what I haue seene: see what I see.
Similar: ah me, alack, alackaday, alas, hey ho, oh dear, oh well, pity, shame, too bad, what a pity, what a shame
Opposite: yay
Thesaurus
interjection
Opposite: yay
Translations
Every language
intj interjection
| Español | ay de mí, pobre de mí, aymé, ay me |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 哀哉 āizāi |
| Português | ai de mim |
| Français | pauvre de moi |
| Deutsch | wehe mir, weh mir |
| Italiano | ahimè |
| Ελληνικά | οίμοι oímoi |
| Română | vai de mine, vai mie |
| Русский | го́ре мне góre mne |
| עברית | אוֹי לִי oy li |
Talk about this word "woe is me." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/woe%20is%20me. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. woe is me. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/woe%20is%20me "woe is me." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/woe%20is%20me.Cite this
@misc{woe_is_me_2026,
title = {woe is me},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/woe%20is%20me},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
