definitions

woe

[ woh ]
/ woʊ /
||
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR woe ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

grievous distress, affliction, or trouble: His woe was almost beyond description.
an affliction: She suffered a fall, among her other woes.

interjection

an exclamation of grief, distress, or lamentation.

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RELATED WORDS

gloom, misfortune, pain, hardship, catastrophe, calamity, burden, misery, trouble, headache, anguish, tragedy, adversity, disaster, distress, misadventure, dole, unhappiness, affliction, blues

Nearby words

wocas, wodehouse, woden, wodge, wodzislaw slaski, woe, woebegone, woeful, woesome, wof, woffington

Origin of woe

before 900; Middle English wo (interjection and noun), Old English wā (interjection) (cf. wellaway); cognate with Dutch wee, German Weh, Old Norse vei, Latin vae
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for woe

British Dictionary definitions for woe

woe

/ (wəʊ) /

noun

literary intense grief or misery
(often plural) affliction or misfortune
woe betide someone misfortune will befall someonewoe betide you if you arrive late

interjection

Also: woe is me archaic an exclamation of sorrow or distress

Word Origin for woe

Old English wā, wǣ; related to Old Saxon, Old High German wē, Old Norse vei, Gothic wai, Latin vae, Sanskrit uvē; see wail
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012