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.
“I feel so stupid, guilty, regretful — embarrassed is a huge one,” she told the Wall Street Journal.
From Salon • Apr. 28, 2026
"I think there's a part of me that always feels regretful whenever we take strike action, we don't go into the medical profession to do that," he said.
From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026
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'm in a mauve wool dress that I inherited from Elsbeth, which fits me well but is such a regretful color that she and I used to call it the Tonsil.
From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse
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.
