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woebegone

[ woh-bi-gawn, -gon ]
/ ˈwoʊ bɪˌgɔn, -ˌgɒn /
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See synonyms for woebegone on Thesaurus.com
adjective
beset with woe; affected by woe, especially in appearance.
showing or indicating woe: He always had a woebegone look on his face.
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Origin of woebegone

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English wo begon originally, “woe (has or had) beset (someone)”; equivalent to wo + begon, past participle of begon, Old English begān “to surround, beset”; see origin at woe, be-, go1

OTHER WORDS FROM woebegone

woe·be·gone·ness, noun

Words nearby woebegone

Wodehouse, Woden, wodge, Wodzislaw Slaski, woe, woebegone, woeful, woefully, woesome, wof, Woffington
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to woebegone

black, bleak, blue, chapfallen, cheerless, crestfallen, dejected, despondent, disconsolate, dismal, dispirited, doleful, down, downcast, downhearted, dreary, forlorn, gloomy, grief-stricken, grim

How to use woebegone in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for woebegone

woebegone
/ (ˈwəʊbɪˌɡɒn) /
adjective
sorrowful or sad in appearance
archaic afflicted with woe

Word Origin for woebegone

C14: from a phrase such as me is wo begon woe has beset me
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
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