Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

sorrow

[sor-oh, sawr-oh]
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. distress caused by loss, affliction, disappointment, etc.; grief, sadness, or regret.
  2. a cause or occasion of grief or regret, as an affliction, a misfortune, or trouble: His first sorrow was the bank failure.
  3. the expression of grief, sadness, disappointment, or the like: muffled sorrow.
verb (used without object)
  1. to feel sorrow; grieve.

Origin of sorrow

before 900; (noun) Middle English; Old English sorg; cognate with German Sorge, Dutch zorg, Old Norse sorg, Gothic saurga; (v.) Middle English sorwen, Old English sorgian; cognate with Old High German sorgôn
Related formssor·row·er, nounsor·row·less, adjectiveun·sor·row·ing, adjective

Synonyms

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
1. Sorrow, distress, grief, misery, woe imply bitter suffering, especially as caused by loss or misfortune. Sorrow is the most general term. Grief is keen suffering, especially for a particular reason. Distress implies anxiety, anguish, or acute suffering caused by the pressure of trouble or adversity. Misery suggests such great and unremitting pain or wretchedness of body or mind as crushes the spirit. Woe is deep or inconsolable grief or misery. 2. adversity. 4. mourn, lament.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for sorrowed

Historical Examples

  • That night, when all was still, White Fang remembered his mother and sorrowed for her.

    White Fang

    Jack London

  • He sorrowed too loudly and woke up Grey Beaver, who beat him.

    White Fang

    Jack London

  • He was the only son of his mother, and she sorrowed over him, and that was the end of it.

  • We heard all this, and sorrowed, and wondered how it was done.

    Things as They Are

    Amy Wilson-Carmichael

  • Miss Armytage saw and understood, and sorrowed for Sir Terence.

    The Snare

    Rafael Sabatini

British Dictionary definitions for sorrowed

sorrow

noun
  1. the characteristic feeling of sadness, grief, or regret associated with loss, bereavement, sympathy for another's suffering, for an injury done, etc
  2. a particular cause or source of regret, grief, etc
  3. Also called: sorrowing the outward expression of grief or sadness
verb
  1. (intr) to mourn or grieve
Derived Formssorrower, nounsorrowful, adjectivesorrowfully, adverbsorrowfulness, noun

Word Origin

Old English sorg; related to Old Norse sorg, Gothic saurga, Old High German sworga
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for sorrowed

sorrow

n.

Old English sorg "grief, regret, trouble, care, pain, anxiety," from Proto-Germanic *sorg- (cf. Old Saxon sorga, Old Norse sorg, Middle Dutch sorghe, Dutch zorg, Old High German soraga, German sorge, Gothic saurga), perhaps from PIE *swergh- "to worry, be sick" (cf. Sanskrit surksati "cares for," Lithuanian sergu "to be sick," Old Church Slavonic sraga "sickness," Old Irish serg "sickness"). Not connected etymologically with sore (adj.) or sorry.

sorrow

v.

Old English sorgian, from sorg (see sorrow (n.)). Related: Sorrowed; sorrowing. Cf. Dutch zorgen, German sorgen, Gothic saurgan.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with sorrowed

sorrow

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.