regret
verb (used with object)
to feel sorrow or remorse for (an act, fault, disappointment, etc.).
had been regretting
-
past perfect progressiveof regret.past perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
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.
All the afternoon he had been regretting his hasty words, and reproaching himself for want of forbearance towards his impetuous girl-wife.
From More about Pixie by William H. C. Groome
Ever since, all through the three years, she had been regretting it.
From Stories by American Authors, Volume 3 by Various
They had been regretting the effect of the fright of the evening upon their children—Vi especially as the one predisposed to undue excitement of the brain—yet hoping it might not prove lasting.
From Elsie's Motherhood by Martha Finley
"Before you came I had been regretting that you happened to be out to-day."
From Middlemarch by George Eliot
The latter had been regretting the absence of an interpreter.
From Mary Magdalen by Edgar Saltus
