regret

[ ri-gret ]

/ rɪˈgrɛt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR regret ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), re·gret·ted, re·gret·ting.

to feel sorrow or remorse for (an act, fault, disappointment, etc.): He no sooner spoke than he regretted it.

to think of with a sense of loss: to regret one's vanished youth.

noun

a sense of loss, disappointment, dissatisfaction, etc.

a feeling of sorrow or remorse for a fault, act, loss, disappointment, etc.

regrets, a polite, usually formal refusal of an invitation: I sent her my regrets.

a note expressing regret at one's inability to accept an invitation: I have had four acceptances and one regret.

Nearby words

regression analysis, regressive, regressive assimilation, regressive staining, regressive tax, regret, regretful, regrettable, regroup, regrow, regrowth

Origin of regret

1300–50; Middle English regretten (v.) < Middle French regreter, Old French, equivalent to re- re- + -greter, perhaps < Germanic (cf. greet²)

SYNONYMS FOR regret

1 deplore, lament, bewail, bemoan, mourn, sorrow, grieve. Regret, penitence, remorse imply a sense of sorrow about events in the past, usually wrongs committed or errors made. Regret is distress of mind, sorrow for what has been done or failed to be done: to have no regrets. Penitence implies a sense of sin or misdoing, a feeling of contrition and determination not to sin again: a humble sense of penitence. Remorse implies pangs, qualms of conscience, a sense of guilt, regret, and repentance for sins committed, wrongs done, or duty not performed: a deep sense of remorse.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR regret ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR regret

1 rejoice.

4 joy.

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Related forms

re·gret·ter, nounre·gret·ting·ly, adverbun·re·gret·ted, adjectiveun·re·gret·ting, adjective

Can be confused

begrudge regret resent (see synonym study at the current entry)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for regret

Scalise has called the talk, which he delivered in a hotel outside New Orleans, “a mistake I regret.”
The Louisiana Racists Who Courted Steve Scalise|Jason Berry|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
And his understandable expressions of regret—now that his book is tanking—come as too little, too late.
The Bloodiest Media Coups of 2014|Lloyd Grove|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It is based on this regret, actually, with respect to the attitude we have had toward them.
Joseph Campbell on the Roots of Halloween|Joseph Campbell|October 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He would not relinquish presidential power and live to regret it, like his cousin.
From The Square Deal to The New Deal: The Overlapping Political Identities of TR and FDR|John Avlon|September 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Pitre is right, combat is about screw-ups, bad officers, apathetic contractors, regret, unfairness, and impossible missions.
'Fives and Twenty-Fives' Is Fiction Honed in a Combat Zone|Brian Castner|August 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We parted with reciprocal expressions of regret and benediction.
Travels in the Interior of Africa, Vol. 2 [of 2]|Mungo Park
A sudden impulse seized me which I have never ceased to regret.
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 1, No. 4, September, 1850|Various
And he heard a growling voice utter harshly: "You will regret this interference, Trent!"
The Monster|S. M. Tenneshaw
He would consent to leave her;—but, as he thought of it in his solitude, his eyes became moist with regret.
The Prime Minister|Anthony Trollope
She took it quietly, but deeply, which troubled my private sense of relief, and indeed turned it into something very like regret.
The Book of Susan|Lee Wilson Dodd

British Dictionary definitions for regret

regret

/ (rɪˈɡrɛt) /

verb -grets, -gretting or -gretted (tr)

(may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to feel sorry, repentant, or upset about

to bemoan or grieve the death or loss of

noun

a sense of repentance, guilt, or sorrow, as over some wrong done or an unfulfilled ambition

a sense of loss or grief

(plural) a polite expression of sadness, esp in a formal refusal of an invitation

Derived Forms

regretful, adjectiveregretfully, adverbregretfulness, nounregrettable, adjective

regrettably, adverbregretter, noun

Word Origin for regret

C14: from Old French regrete, of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Norse grāta to weep

usage

Regretful and regretfully are sometimes wrongly used where regrettable and regrettably are meant: he gave a regretful smile; he smiled regretfully; this is a regrettable (not regretful) mistake; regrettably (not regretfully) , I shall be unable to attend

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