Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of remorseful
Explanation
The adjective remorseful is good for describing someone who is really, really sorry — like a teenager who borrows his parents' car without asking and drives it into a tree. Someone who feels remorseful has usually done something that he or she now feels guilty about. A defendant at a murder trial might be remorseful, and so might a little girl who has accidentally stepped on her cat's tail. The word remorseful means "full of remorse," and remorse comes from the Latin word remordere, "vex," or literally "to bite back." A popular phrase in Medieval Latin was remorsus conscientiæ, or "a biting back of one's conscience."
Vocabulary lists containing remorseful
Power Suffix: -ful
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In the Mood? 100 Words to Describe Emotions
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Feeling Sorry?
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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.
The judge told the court that he could see "the state" that Donaldson was in and said he could see that he is remorseful.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
SpaceX’s shares have surged nearly 50% in their first two days of trading and left in their wake a trail of remorseful traders who had sold too early.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
SpaceX shares have surged nearly 50% in their first days of trading and left a trail of remorseful traders in their wake: those who sold too early.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
He’s deeply remorseful about how he wronged family, friends and colleagues.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
I would say her expression right now was definitely remorseful.
From "Auggie & Me" by R. J. Palacio
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.
