sorrow - Definitions from Dictionary.com

7 results for: sorrow

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

sor·row

Audio Help [sor-oh, sawr-oh] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	distress caused by loss, affliction, disappointment, etc.; grief, sadness, or regret.

2.	a cause or occasion of grief or regret, as an affliction, a misfortune, or trouble: His first sorrow was the bank failure.

3.	the expression of grief, sadness, disappointment, or the like: muffled sorrow.

–verb (used without object)

4.	to feel sorrow; grieve.

[Origin: bef. 900; (n.) ME; OE sorg; c. G Sorge, D zorg, ON sorg, Goth saurga; (v.) ME sorwen, OE sorgian; c. OHG sorgôn

]

—Related forms

sor·row·er, noun

sor·row·less, adjective

—Synonyms 1. Sorrow, distress, grief, misery, woe imply bitter suffering, especially as caused by loss or misfortune. Sorrow is the most general term. Grief is keen suffering, esp. for a particular reason. Distress implies anxiety, anguish, or acute suffering caused by the pressure of trouble or adversity. Misery suggests such great and unremitting pain or wretchedness of body or mind as crushes the spirit. Woe is deep or inconsolable grief or misery. 2. adversity. 4. mourn, lament.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
sorrow

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

sor·row Audio Help (sŏr'ō, sôr'ō) Pronunciation Key
n.

Mental suffering or pain caused by injury, loss, or despair. See Synonyms at regret.
A source or cause of sorrow; a misfortune.
Expression of sorrow; grieving.

intr.v. sor·rowed, sor·row·ing, sor·rows
To feel or express sorrow. See Synonyms at grieve.

[Middle English sorwe, from Old English sorg.]

sor'row·er n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
sorrow (n.)

O.E. sorg "grief, regret, trouble, care," from P.Gmc. *surgo (cf. O.S. sorga, O.N. sorg, M.Du. sorghe, Du. zorg, O.H.G. soraga, Ger. sorge, Goth. saurga), perhaps from PIE *swergh- (cf. Skt. surksati "cares for," Lith. sergu "to be sick," O.C.S. sraga "sickness," O.Ir. serg "sickness"). The verb is O.E. sorgian.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

sorrow
noun
1.	an emotion of great sadness associated with loss or bereavement; "he tried to express his sorrow at her loss" [ant: joy]
2.	sadness associated with some wrong done or some disappointment; "he drank to drown his sorrows"; "he wrote a note expressing his regret"; "to his rue, the error cost him the game"
3.	something that causes great unhappiness; "her death was a great grief to John" [syn: grief]
4.	the state of being sad; "she tired of his perpetual sadness" [syn: sadness]
verb
1.	feel grief [syn: grieve]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
sorrow [ˈsorəu] noun

(something which causes) pain of mind or grief
Example: He felt great sorrow when she died.

Arabic:	أسى، حُزْن
Chinese (Simplified):	悲痛
Chinese (Traditional):	悲痛
Czech:	smutek
Danish:	sorg
Dutch:	verdriet
Estonian:	kurbus
Finnish:	suru
French:	chagrin
German:	der Kummer
Greek:	θλίψη
Hungarian:	szomorúság
Icelandic:	sorg
Indonesian:	kesedihan
Italian:	dolore

Japanese:	悲しみ
Korean:	슬픔, 비애, 비탄
Latvian:	bēdas; skumjas
Lithuanian:	liūdesys, sielvartas
Norwegian:	sorg, bedrøvelse; smerte
Polish:	smutek
Portuguese (Brazil):	pesar
Portuguese (Portugal):	pesar
Romanian:	trist
Russian:	печаль; скорбь
Slovak:	smútok
Slovenian:	žalost
Spanish:	pena, pesar, dolor
Swedish:	sorg
Turkish:	üzüntü

See also: sorrowful

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Sorrow

Af*flic"tion\, n. [F. affliction, L. afflictio, fr. affligere.]

1. The cause of continued pain of body or mind, as sickness, losses, etc.; an instance of grievous distress; a pain or grief.

To repay that money will be a biting affliction. --Shak.

2. The state of being afflicted; a state of pain, distress, or grief.

Some virtues are seen only in affliction. --Addison.

Syn: Calamity; sorrow; distress; grief; pain; adversity; misery; wretchedness; misfortune; trouble; hardship.

Usage: Affliction, Sorrow, Grief, Distress. Affliction and sorrow are terms of wide and general application; grief and distress have reference to particular cases. Affliction is the stronger term. The suffering lies deeper in the soul, and usually arises from some powerful cause, such as the loss of what is most dear -- friends, health, etc. We do not speak of mere sickness or pain as "an affliction," though one who suffers from either is said to be afflicted; but deprivations of every kind, such as deafness, blindness, loss of limbs, etc., are called afflictions, showing that term applies particularly to prolonged sources of suffering. Sorrow and grief are much alike in meaning, but grief is the stronger term of the two, usually denoting poignant mental suffering for some definite cause, as, grief for the death of a dear friend; sorrow is more reflective, and is tinged with regret, as, the misconduct of a child is looked upon with sorrow. Grief is often violent and demonstrative; sorrow deep and brooding. Distress implies extreme suffering, either bodily or mental. In its higher stages, it denotes pain of a restless, agitating kind, and almost always supposes some struggle of mind or body. Affliction is allayed, grief subsides, sorrow is soothed, distress is mitigated.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Sorrow

Grief\ (gr[=e]f), n. [OE. grief, gref, OF. grief, gref, F. grief, L. gravis heavy; akin to Gr. bary`s, Skr. guru, Goth. ka['u]rus. Cf. Barometer, Grave, a., Grieve, Gooroo.]

1. Pain of mind on account of something in the past; mental suffering arising from any cause, as misfortune, loss of friends, misconduct of one's self or others, etc.; sorrow; sadness.

The mother was so afflicted at the loss of a fine boy, . . . that she died for grief of it. --Addison.

2. Cause of sorrow or pain; that which afficts or distresses; trial; grievance.

Be factious for redress of all these griefs. --Shak.

3. Physical pain, or a cause of it; malady. [R.]

This grief (cancerous ulcers) hastened the end of that famous mathematician, Mr. Harriot. --Wood.

To come to grief, to meet with calamity, accident, defeat, ruin, etc., causing grief; to turn out badly. [Colloq.]

Syn: Affiction; sorrow; distress; sadness; trial; grievance.

Usage: Grief, Sorrow, Sadness. Sorrow is the generic term; grief is sorrow for some definite cause -- one which commenced, at least, in the past; sadness is applied to a permanent mood of the mind. Sorrow is transient in many cases; but the grief of a mother for the loss of a favorite child too often turns into habitual sadness. "Grief is sometimes considered as synonymous with sorrow; and in this case we speak of the transports of grief. At other times it expresses more silent, deep, and painful affections, such as are inspired by domestic calamities, particularly by the loss of friends and relatives, or by the distress, either of body or mind, experienced by those whom we love and value." --Cogan. See Affliction.

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