1225–75; Middle English < Old French ( h ) a las!, equivalent to ( h ) a ah + las wretched < Latin lassus weary; cf. alack
Alas is another way to emphatically say “unfortunately.” Perhaps you meant to finish up all your homework last night, but alas, your favorite television show wound up getting your undivided attention instead. Letting out a breathy alas in the middle of your sentence may sound dramatic or old fashioned, but it's actually an excellent way to emphasize extreme bewilderment, regret, concern, or woe. Once an expression of weariness rather than grief, alas stems from the Latin lassus, meaning “tired, weary.” Exclaimed Lord Byron, the English poet, “Alas! The love of women! It is known to be a lovely and fearful thing!”
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The answer, alas, is not much—at least not much that is likely to have an effect on the Iranian leaders’ behavior.
From Slate • May 11, 2026
In Los Angeles, alas, we were, last spring, a city of cinders.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 20, 2026
All of which leaves me sounding, alas, like a broken record.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 11, 2026
But alas, Minute Maid is saying goodbye to all that, and thanks for the memories.
From Salon • Feb. 6, 2026
But, alas, he never really belonged in either place, the sad fate, I am afraid, of those whose hearts break and then mend in crooked ways.
From "The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread" by Kate DiCamillo
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.
