repine

[ri-pahyn]

verb (used without object)

repined, repining 

1. to be fretfully discontented; fret; complain.

repine

/ rɪˈpaɪn /

verb

1. (intr) to be fretful or low-spirited through discontent

Other Word Forms

• repiner noun
• unrepined adjective
• unrepining adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of repine¹

First recorded in 1520–30; re- + pine ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of repine¹

C16: from _re- + _pine ²

Example Sentences

More a conscious repining at their existence, mixed with revulsion at the thought that she occasionally had to share space with them.

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She had not much time for repining, however, for the three young girls were busily employed in ‘having a good time’.

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I will not pause either to accuse or repine.

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“But the wife of Mr. Darcy must have such extraordinary sources of happiness necessarily attached to her situation, that she could, upon the whole, have no cause to repine.”

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Freeman called Lee “the Southern Arthur” who “accepted fame without vanity and defeat without repining.”

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Related Words

• carp 
• complain 
• fret 
• gripe 
• grumble