woe
Americannoun
-
woes
plural
-
profound grief or distress.
His woe at the terrible news was almost beyond description.
- Synonyms:
- melancholy, wretchedness, trial, tribulation, anguish
- Antonyms:
- joy
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an affliction or cause of distress.
She suffered a fall, among her other woes.
interjection
idioms
-
woe betide, trouble or punishment will come upon (someone) if they take the specified action: Also woe to
Woe betide anybody who laughed or continued to talk while he was playing.
Rules about court reporting are strict, and woe betide those who fall foul of them.
Woe to the pedestrian who gets in a cyclist's way.
-
woe is me, (used to lament one's own distress, affliction, or trouble, sometimes humorously).
Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Please don't get the wrong impression, thinking this is a “woe is me” story.
noun
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literary intense grief or misery
-
(often plural) affliction or misfortune
-
misfortune will befall someone
woe betide you if you arrive late
interjection
Synonym Usage
See sorrow.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of woe
First recorded before 900; Middle English wo (interjection and noun), Old English wā (interjection) ( cf. wellaway); cognate with Dutch wee, German Weh, Old Norse vei; akin to Latin vae
Explanation
"O, woe is me!" This line is from Shakespeare. When Hamlet scorns Ophelia, she utters these words to express the grief and despair that will soon drive her to suicide. Another famously dejected figure, Job, echoes this unhappy cry in the Old Testament when he contemplates his sad fate, "If I be wicked, woe unto me." Today, woe generally means "problem" or "worry." You may experience financial woes, if you spend too much on your credit card. And study hard for your classes or in addition to your academic woes, you may get grounded by your parents. Sometimes woe is used in a slightly ironic way. If your friends tell you to forget about your woes and go out with them, they think your problems are not too serious.
Vocabulary lists containing woe
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act II
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Christmas Carol Vocab: A Lyrical Lexicon
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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:
And he stresses that it isn’t in the president’s power to fix every economic woe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
But woe befall any bad guys who mistake him for a fool.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
One season without a trophy is major woe for Guardiola and City, two would be downright unthinkable.
From BBC ● Jan. 1, 2026
Property taxes are another housing woe for cash-strapped Americans.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 4, 2025
The preacher is rapt with attention as Katherine begins spinning out a tale of woe and misery so pitiful that it belongs in a weekly serial.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
The federal probes into Walter’s businesses have added to Egan-Jones’s woes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
It’s unclear whether Cosby will wait until his latest legal woes have come to an end before relisting his New York home, which was previously listed with Adam Schneider, of Corcoran Westside Columbus.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026
In addition to getting divorced after the Fox 11 job, she was later sideswiped by financial woes and a devastating health scare.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
In another stark sign of woes, the official non-manufacturing PMI, which measures activity in sectors such as services and construction, fell sharply to 49.0 in July, the data showed Friday.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
Up in the sky the woes of this world could not touch her.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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.
