woe
[woh]
- grievous distress, affliction, or trouble: His woe was almost beyond description.
- an affliction: She suffered a fall, among her other woes.
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- an exclamation of grief, distress, or lamentation.
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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
Synonyms
See more synonyms for woe on Thesaurus.com1. anguish, tribulation, trial, wretchedness, melancholy. See sorrow.
Antonyms
1. joy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for woe
Contemporary Examples
Woe be to her if another candidate with the appeal of an ice cream truck happens to drive by.
The Coronation That Wants to Be a Movement: Scenes From Hillary’s Iowa Steak FryAna Marie Cox
September 15, 2014
Woe unto the politicians and parties that fail to grok this, as they will face only bigger and bigger losses in market share.
Woe to you who have fallen away from the righteousness of your ancestors!
Woe unto thee good people of North Carolina for the Muslims are coming to impose Islamic law.
His memoir is not the typical tell-all with tales of woe and abuse.
Historical Examples
Did she not break into lamentation and woe that a brother should so demean himself?
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
We could not miss the way, our driver said, and woe betide us if we did!
The Roof of FranceMatilda Betham-Edwards
Woe to him who is not the keeper of his own conscience—the supporter of his own resolution!
Tales And Novels, Volume 5 (of 10)Maria Edgeworth
A month will decide the one, perhaps: But what a duration of woe will the other be!
Clarissa, Volume 2 (of 9)Samuel Richardson
Or was it not in that hour—that solemn commune—soothed from its woe?
Night and Morning, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
woe
- literary intense grief or misery
- (often plural) affliction or misfortune
- woe betide someone misfortune will befall someonewoe betide you if you arrive late
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- Also: woe is me archaic an exclamation of sorrow or distress
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Word Origin
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
Word Origin and History for woe
n.
Old English wa, a common exclamation of lament in many languages (cf. Latin væ, Greek oa, German weh, Lettish wai, Old Irish fe, Welsh gwae, Armenian vay). The noun is attested from late 12c., from the interjection.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper