repine
Americanverb (used without object)
-
repines,
present (3rd person singular)
-
repined,
past participle, past
-
repining
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
repinesimple
-
repinessimple
-
have repinedperfect
-
has repinedperfect
-
am repiningprogressive
-
are repiningprogressive
-
is repiningprogressive
-
have been repiningperfect progressive
-
has been repiningperfect progressive
Past
-
repinedsimple
-
had repinedperfect
-
was repiningprogressive
-
were repiningprogressive
-
had been repiningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of repine
Explanation
The verb repine describes expressing gloom or discontent. Brooding, fretful, and sad — these are the traits of people who repine at their circumstances in life. Early American poet Anne Bradstreet used repine in her well-known poem, "Upon the Burning of Our House July 10th 1666," describing how the speaker got over the loss: "And when I could no longer look, / I blest His grace that gave and took, / That laid my goods now in the dust. / Yea, so it was, and so 'twas just. / It was his own; it was not mine. / Far be it that I should repine."
Vocabulary lists containing repine
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
“A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
We are republishing Patterson’s repine in honor of the holiday.
From Slate ● Jul. 4, 2012
But if no one agrees, the author need not repine.
From Time Magazine Archive
Must Man, the chiefest Work of Art Divine, Be doom'd in endless Discord to repine?
From Time Magazine Archive
I will not pause either to accuse or repine.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
Yet they become stronger and more vehement every day, so that I am powerless to overcome them, and in weariness repine.
From Some Jewish Witnesses For Christ by B.D.
When I laugh, something within me suffers and repines; it is by no means rare for me to pass suddenly and without transition from the wildest gayety to the profoundest sadness and melancholy.
From The Cross of Berny by Florence Fendall
At this who ever envies or repines I leave him to his lot, and like my own.
From The Poetical Works of John Milton by John Milton
Nature by bonds so slight to earth confines Her slender form, a breath may break its chains; And she, so much her heart the world disdains, Longer to tread life's wearying round repines.
From The Sonnets, Triumphs, and Other Poems of Petrarch by Thomas Campbell
This dame declines—a third repines, and fades, like the rest, away; Her lot she rues, whom a Rookwood woos—cursed is her Wedding Day!
From Rookwood by William Harrison Ainsworth
He neglects himself because he was born in his own time and so far off antiquity, which he so much admires, and repines, like a younger brother, because he came so late into the world.
From Character Writings of the 17th Century by Various
There is something nobly pathetic in this deserted avenue—even the trees themselves have a mournful look, as though they repined because of the loneliness of to-day.
From The Dukeries by E. W. Haslehust
When the crisis and the crash came that wrecked his fortune he went stoutly to work, and if he ever repined it was not known outside of the family and small circle of chosen friends.
From Blazing The Way True Stories, Songs and Sketches of Puget Sound by Emily Inez Denny
The simple, ingenuous and acquiescent sweetness with which she said this, was a new pang to her lover:—had she repined, had she looked ill-humoured, his task would not have been so difficult.
From Adeline Mowbray or, The Mother and Daughter by Amelia Alderson Opie
The General's daughter repined, perhaps, after her former fortunes.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXVI. October, 1843. Vol. LIV. by Various
Sir, the Churches in this country have long repined at the position of the Churches in England on the subject of Slavery.
From Abolition Fanaticism in New York Speech of a Runaway Slave from Baltimore, at an Abolition Meeting in New York, Held May 11, 1847 by Frederick Douglass
More a conscious repining at their existence, mixed with revulsion at the thought that she occasionally had to share space with them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2025
Far from repining in the sheltered world of the rectory, she was surrounded by sensational, exotic, dramatic life.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 8, 2013
When Nina discovered how much too well she had succeeded, she wept, cheered up. went away, leaving John, Mr. Ganson and Dorchester repining.
From Time Magazine Archive
Ripening but not repining, Paul seemed to those around him a strong and saintly character, though he knew himself still a struggling beginner at his endless job.
From Time Magazine Archive
She had not much time for repining, however, for the three young girls were busily employed in ‘having a good time’.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
