sorry
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.
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.
(used as a conventional apology or expression of regret): Sorry, you're misinformed. Did I bump you? Sorry.
Origin of sorry
1synonym study For sorry
word story For sorry
There is no etymological connection between sār, sārig and Old English sorh, sorg “care, anxiety” (English sorrow ), which is akin to German Sorge “care, anxiety.” But even in Old English times, there was the semantic connection of “suffering” between sār, sārig and sorh, sorg. The Middle English change of sārig to sōri, then to sori (the change of long o in sōri to the short o in sori is due to the influence of the noun sorrowe ), and the Middle English change of sorh, sorg to sorye, soro, sorrowe created a close formal resemblance between sārig (in one Middle English spelling sori ) and sorh, sorg (in the Middle English spellings sorye, soro, sorrowe ), and sorrow has influenced the meaning of sorry ever since.
Other words for sorry
1 | regretful, sympathetic, pitying |
3 | unhappy, depressed, sorrowing |
4 | grievous, mournful, painful |
5 | abject, contemptible, paltry, worthless, shabby |
Opposites for sorry
Other words from sorry
- sor·ri·ly, adverb
- sor·ri·ness, noun
- un·sor·ry, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use sorry in a sentence
Perhaps if I told him I knew how wicked I was, the sorriness would come later.
Tabitha at Ivy Hall | Ruth Alberta BrownAn odd feeling of sorriness for her step-mother came over Joan.
Why Joan? | Eleanor Mercein KellyBut she did not tell them of the sorriness of her situation: it might have brought reproach upon him.
Tess of the d'Urbervilles | Thomas HardyAnd her sorriness held her heart warm, in the glow of giving comfort.
The Fortieth Door | Mary Hastings BradleyHis voice was thick with sorriness, and he could hardly get the words out.
Outa Karel's Stories | Sanni Metelerkamp
British Dictionary definitions for sorry
/ (ˈsɒrɪ) /
(usually postpositive often foll by for) 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
an exclamation expressing apology, used esp at the time of the misdemeanour, offence, etc
Origin of sorry
1Derived forms of sorry
- sorrily, adverb
- sorriness, noun
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with sorry
see better safe than sorry.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Browse