(may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to feel sorry, repentant, or upset about
2.
to bemoan or grieve the death or loss of
—n
3.
a sense of repentance, guilt, or sorrow, as over some wrong done or an unfulfilled ambition
4.
a sense of loss or grief
5.
(plural) a polite expression of sadness, esp in a formal refusal of an invitation
[C14: from Old French regrete, of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Norse grāta to weep]
usage Regretful and regretfully are sometimes wrongly used where regrettable and regrettably are meant: he gave a regretful smile; he smiled regretfully; this is a regrettable (not regretful) mistake; regrettably (not regretfully), I shall be unable to attend
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.