regretful
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of regretful
Explanation
Regretful describes the feeling of being sorry for something you did — or didn't do — or something that happened. If you are regretful about how you treated your brother when you were little, you now wish you had been nicer. Regret is a feeling of sorrow — wishing you could do something differently or undo an action. So, when you are regretful, you might feel frustrated, disappointed with yourself, embarrassed, or even sad. In fact, regretful comes from the Proto-Germanic word for weep, gretan. It can be hard to do, but the point is to learn from regretful experiences so you don't repeat them.
Vocabulary lists containing regretful
Feeling Sorry?
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Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
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List 5
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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.
It’s an idiosyncratic decision, no doubt also affected by the galleries’ footprint, but a regretful one.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 17, 2026
The other night, I bumped into a fellow parent at an ice cream shop and when I asked how he was, he said, with a regretful smile, “depends on the day.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2025
I was, to be clear, an active if uneasy and now regretful participant in all of this.
From Slate ● May 12, 2025
"That's very regretful, but somebody was going to get hurt," she said.
From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2025
The words are out before I can stop them, but I don’t feel particularly regretful.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
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.
