sorry
Americanadjective
-
sorrier,
comparative
-
sorriest
superlative
-
feeling regret, compunction, sympathy, pity, etc..
to be sorry to leave one's friends; to be sorry for a remark; to be sorry for someone in trouble.
- Synonyms:
- pitying, sympathetic, regretful
- Antonyms:
- happy
-
regrettable or deplorable; unfortunate; tragic.
a sorry situation; to come to a sorry end.
-
sorrowful, grieved, or sad.
Was she sorry when her brother died?
-
associated with sorrow; suggestive of grief or suffering; melancholy; dismal.
-
wretched, poor, useless, or pitiful.
a sorry horse.
- Synonyms:
- worthless, paltry, contemptible, abject, shabby
interjection
adjective
-
feeling or expressing pity, sympathy, remorse, grief, or regret
I feel sorry for him
-
pitiful, wretched, or deplorable
a sorry sight
-
poor; paltry
a sorry excuse
-
affected by sorrow; sad
-
causing sorrow or sadness
interjection
Synonym Usage
See wretched.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of sorry
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English sārig; cognate with Low German sērig, Old High German sērag. See sore, -y 1
Explanation
To be sorry is to feel regret or feel bad about something — usually something you did. "I'm sorry" is an apology. If you're feeling sorry about something, then you're feeling a combination of sadness and regret. You can be sorry for things you did, and you can also be sorry for bad things that happen to other people that don't involve you. At a funeral, people say "I'm sorry for your loss." The word sorry can also be used as an adjective to mean shoddy or crappy, as in "That is one sorry excuse!"
Vocabulary lists containing sorry
"The Road Not Taken"
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"The House on Mango Street" and "The Road Not Taken"
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"The Giving Tree"
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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:
"Tony Blair did sort of do a kind of sorry not sorry situation. He kind of expressed sorrow, and then said sorry, and then it was walked back by number 10," Miliband said.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
The fact that that quote would inspire somebody to make such an idiotic observation, I’m sorry, I’m sorry they did.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
Ultimately, I’m sorry a generous and happy moment in your life is being revisited in such an unpleasant way.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
“You deserve to hear from me directly, and I’m sorry that it’s taken this long,” Blair said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026
‘Sorry, sorry, I slipped,’ she said, patting my arm.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
It would all be pretty boilerplate, but Mann’s anchoring appeal — his lean into Griffin’s modesty and decency — saves the movie from a sorrier fate.
From New York Times ● Sep. 8, 2022
He scored 24 goals, including two hat-tricks, and, without him, United would have been in an even sorrier state than the one they ended up in.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2022
I’m sorry this happened and sorrier still that we’re in this spot.
From Slate ● May 19, 2020
And sorrier still because there might not be many more of them in the future.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2019
Despite Doc’s caution, I was about to feel sorrier for myself than even I could imagine.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
It took until Game 162, but they clinched a spot in the postseason on Sunday, outlasting the even sadder Texas Rangers in baseball’s sorriest war of attrition.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
Schofield recently revealed he believes his career is now over following the affair which he apologised for, calling it his "biggest, sorriest secret".
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2023
“I am trying to vindicate rightfully the sorriest mistake that I have ever made in the practice of law.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2022
And technology has been one of the sorriest stock-market sectors this year, down 31.4 percent through the end of the third quarter.
From New York Times ● Oct. 14, 2022
“I’m the sorriest of all,” Jenna says, her eyes filling with tears.
From "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass
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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.
