sorrow
Americannoun
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sorrows
plural
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distress caused by loss, affliction, disappointment, etc.; grief, sadness, or regret.
-
a cause or occasion of grief or regret, as an affliction, a misfortune, or trouble.
His first sorrow was the bank failure.
- Synonyms:
- adversity
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the expression of grief, sadness, disappointment, or the like.
muffled sorrow.
verb (used without object)
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sorrows,
present (3rd person singular)
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sorrowed,
past participle, past
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sorrowing
present participle
noun
-
the characteristic feeling of sadness, grief, or regret associated with loss, bereavement, sympathy for another's suffering, for an injury done, etc
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a particular cause or source of regret, grief, etc
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Also called: sorrowing. the outward expression of grief or sadness
verb
Synonym Usage
Sorrow, distress, grief, misery, woe imply bitter suffering, especially as caused by loss or misfortune. Sorrow is the most general term. Grief is keen suffering, especially for a particular reason. Distress implies anxiety, anguish, or acute suffering caused by the pressure of trouble or adversity. Misery suggests such great and unremitting pain or wretchedness of body or mind as crushes the spirit. Woe is deep or inconsolable grief or misery.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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sorrowernoun
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sorrowfulnessnoun
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sorrowfuladjective
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sorrowlessadjective
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unsorrowingadjective
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sorrowfullyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
sorrowsimple
-
sorrowssimple
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have sorrowedperfect
-
has sorrowedperfect
-
am sorrowingprogressive
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are sorrowingprogressive
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is sorrowingprogressive
-
have been sorrowingperfect progressive
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has been sorrowingperfect progressive
Past
-
sorrowedsimple
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had sorrowedperfect
-
was sorrowingprogressive
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were sorrowingprogressive
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had been sorrowingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sorrow
First recorded before 900; (noun) Middle English; Old English sorg; cognate with German Sorge, Dutch zorg, Old Norse sorg, Gothic saurga; (verb) Middle English sorwen, Old English sorgian; cognate with Old High German sorgôn
Explanation
Sorrow is a feeling of immense sadness, like the sorrow you would feel if your best friend suddenly moved across the country. Sorrow is an almost unbearable sadness. In fact, it is often used as a synonym for grief. If you drop a pretty picture frame and it breaks, you might feel sad. If, on the other hand, your entire house — including that picture frame — burns to the ground, you will feel sorrow at the loss of everything, including the photographs and other mementos you can never replace.
Vocabulary lists containing sorrow
"The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs
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Emotions on Display
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Words inspired by "Inside Out"
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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.
See Examples For:
The King has previously expressed his "personal sorrow" at the UK's role in slavery.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
The news was expected, but that doesn’t lessen Latif’s sorrow — or the anger of those in his life who felt he should have been around more before her death.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
From the moment she walked onto the stage at his public memorial in Arizona to fireworks more suited for a World Series championship, Erika Kirk has alienated people, even drawing accusations of faking her sorrow.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026
The statement announced, "with profound sorrow... the passing of Yayoi Kusama at a hospital in Tokyo on August 14, 2026, at the age of 97".
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
Her sorrow flowed to me; the numbness began to clear.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
It’s the depth of the meaning people find in life when they confront those types of unspeakable sorrows and pains.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
That name — “dolores,” meaning sorrows — “seemed appropriate given what was to come,” San Francisco historian Alec Scott told me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
It’s not just a byproduct of social media, 24/7 cable news and our shared tendency to drowning in constant updates on the sorrows of the world.
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026
“Renoir” may be a delicate wisp of a film, but it’s flecked with thoughtful questioning about whether childhood’s sorrows leave permanent scars on us as adults.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
I had two weeks off for winter break and I drowned my sorrows in music, I stayed up late reading, I trained hard, and I drew ugly, unimpressive things.
From "A Very Large Expanse of Sea" by Tahereh Mafi
And I sorrowed for my father’s harm as though I had been smitten myself; so sorrowed I for his unhappy old age.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2019
“We are incredibly sorrowed at the loss of Officer Galvez and our thoughts and prayers are with all who knew and loved him.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 19, 2015
You’ve clucked, sorrowed and sighed at “The Pride”: plus ça change, plus c’est la même self-esteem issue.
From New York Times ● Mar. 8, 2010
Tammany-Boss Tweed and Jay Gould sorrowed sincerely; the masses, damp-eyed, mourned vociferously.
From Time Magazine Archive
“Oh, you don’t believe me? Well. The woman who made them is a wicked thing. And broken. She sorrowed until she could sorrow no more, and now she is quite mad.”
From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill
The challenge for the author is to write a pulse-pounding thriller without sorrowing over this injustice too much.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2023
“We mend, but we don’t forget,” she offers by way of comfort to the sorrowing nobleman.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 15, 2022
Any information will be gladly received by their sorrowing mother, Catherine Mason, at 1818 Hancock St., between Master and Thompson, Phila.
From Slate ● Oct. 13, 2015
As she told widows and other sorrowing women at a lecture billed as a “grief seminar” some years later: Think positive.
From New York Times ● Sep. 4, 2014
It hits the weakest, most sorrowing part of me; but I am only a surrogate, for who knows what lack, what loss.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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.
