deplore
Americanverb (used with object)
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deplores,
present (3rd person singular)
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deplored,
past participle, past
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deploring
present participle
verb
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to express or feel sorrow about; lament; regret
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to express or feel strong disapproval of; censure
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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deploresimple
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deploressimple
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have deploredperfect
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has deploredperfect
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am deploringprogressive
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are deploringprogressive
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is deploringprogressive
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have been deploringperfect progressive
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has been deploringperfect progressive
Past
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deploredsimple
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had deploredperfect
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was deploringprogressive
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were deploringprogressive
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had been deploringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of deplore
First recorded in 1550–60; from Latin dēplōrāre “to weep bitterly, complain,” equivalent to dē- + plōrāre “to wail”; see origin at de-
Explanation
The verb deplore is used to express strong disapproval of something. If you really, really hate the way your mom makes meatloaf, then it's safe to say you deplore it. Deplore comes from Latin roots that mean "to bewail or lament." So if you deplore something, you object to it because it brings you sorrow or grief. People often deplore things that they regret or feel bad about. You might deplore the inhumane treatment of animals or the deforestation of the Amazon. Or maybe you just deplore your wardrobe choices from middle school.
Vocabulary lists containing deplore
"Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963)
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Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 2
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Vocabulary from "John L. O'Sullivan on 'Manifest Destiny' " from 1839
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Journalist: "What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?"
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Many of the Iranian people, even those who deplore the regime, may support the home team in this fight.
From Slate ● Apr. 1, 2026
Critics deplore the fact that the undisputed growth has only benefitted a small portion of the population and has been accompanied by a spiralling cost of living.
From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2025
Downey, who plunged into tech’s moral gray zones in his “Iron Man” outings, makes it possible for an audience to both deplore McNeal and delight in the abrasive pleasure of his company.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2024
“I see a light in the kitchen. Let us not deprive Molly any longer of the chance to deplore how thin you are.”
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
Martin Bertao, president of College Republicans of America, said the organization deplores antisemitism and disputed the membership of the young man appearing to salute in the photo.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026
The Paris Philharmonic said it had filed a complaint over the disruption, adding it "deplores and strongly condemns the serious incidents that occurred".
From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2025
Eileen enters, greets the son she hasn’t seen in years and deplores the mess and his beard.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 4, 2024
The vetoed section deplores the loss of life of migrants trying to reach Europe, commits to fight trafficking and calls for more work to solve the migration problem.
From Reuters ● Jun. 30, 2023
What we reverence as individual liberty he deplores as spiritual slavery.
From Modern Leaders: Being a Series of Biographical Sketches by Justin McCarthy
The council deplored the suffering of Afghans and voiced deep concern about deeply entrenched impunity in the country.
From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026
Selznick deplored Hitchcock’s “goddamn jigsaw cutting,” the dreamlike, jagged images that create his signature subjectivity, but Webb didn’t mind it at all.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Two major Islamic bodies, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Al-Azhar, issued statements that deplored the hateful rhetoric — but without making clear who had used it.
From Salon ● Apr. 26, 2026
Why, he asked, is that acceptable in politics when it’s deplored in just about every other field of endeavor?
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2025
“Yes,” Lee said from the doorway, “and he deplored it. He hated it.”
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
Americans, in the meantime, kept poking at nominally Spanish California from the sea and overland, looking for weak points and deploring what they and Europeans thought were wasted possibilities in California’s under-exploited amenities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2025
But we tie ourselves in knots deploring how slow and technical and mincing legal accountability can be.
From Slate ● Jan. 19, 2024
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry later issued a statement calling Paludan an “Islam-hating charlatan” and deploring the fact that he was allowed to stage the demonstration.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 27, 2023
The flooding was an example of "what we have been deploring for some time," he said, adding that those countries which were responsible for pollution should do more to help those which are suffering.
From BBC ● Dec. 14, 2022
He released sincere public statements deploring the shooting and condemning it as evil.
From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
