Regret \Re*gret"\ (r?*gr?t"), n. [F., fr. regretter. See
Regret, v.]
1. Pain of mind on account of something done or experienced
in the past, with a wish that it had been different; a
looking back with dissatisfaction or with longing; grief;
sorrow; especially, a mourning on account of the loss of
some joy, advantage, or satisfaction. "A passionate regret
at sin." --Dr. H. More.
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What man does not remember with regret the first
time he read Robinson Crusoe? --Macaulay.
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Never any prince expressed a more lively regret for
the loss of a servant. --Clarendon.
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From its peaceful bosom [the grave] spring none but
fond regrets and tender recollections. --W. Irving.
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2. Dislike; aversion. [Obs.] --Dr. H. More.
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Syn: Grief; concern; sorrow; lamentation; repentance;
penitence; self-condemnation.
Usage: Regret, Remorse, Compunction, Contrition,
Repentance. Regret does not carry with it the energy
of remorse, the sting of compunction, the sacredness
of contrition, or the practical character of
repentance. We even apply the term regret to
circumstance over which we have had no control, as the
absence of friends or their loss. When connected with
ourselves, it relates rather to unwise acts than to
wrong or sinful ones. --C. J. Smith.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Regret \Re*gret"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Regretted (-t[e^]d); p.
pr. & vb. n. Regretting.] [F. regretter, OF. regreter; L.
pref. re- re- + a word of Teutonic origin; cf. Goth.
gr[=e]tan to weep, Icel. gr[=a]ta. See Greet to lament.]
To experience regret on account of; to lose or miss with a
sense of regret; to feel sorrow or dissatisfaction on account
of (the happening or the loss of something); as, to regret an
error; to regret lost opportunities or friends.
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Calmly he looked on either life, and here
Saw nothing to regret, or there to fear. --Pope.
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In a few hours they [the Israelites] began to regret
their slavery, and to murmur against their leader.
--Macaulay.
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Recruits who regretted the plow from which they had
been violently taken. --Macaulay.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
regret
n : 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" [syn: sorrow, rue, ruefulness]
v 1: feel remorse for; feel sorry for; be contrite about [syn: repent,
rue]
2: feel sad about the loss or absence of
3: decline formally or politely; "I regret I can't come to the
party"
4: be sorry; "I regret to say that you did not gain admission
to Harvard"
[also: regretting, regretted]
WordNet (r) 2.0
67 Moby Thesaurus words for "regret":
abject apology, acknowledgment, affliction, anguish, apologies,
apology, attrition, ayenbite of inwit, be sorry for, bemoan,
bewail, bitterness, breast-beating, care, compunction, confession,
contriteness, contrition, demur, deplore, deprecate,
disappointment, disapprove, dole, dolor, excuse, feel sorry for,
grief, grieve, guilt, heartache, heartbreak, lament, mea culpa,
mourn, mournfulness, pangs of conscience, penitence, qualm,
refusal, regretfulness, regrets, regretting, remorse,
remorse of conscience, remorsefulness, repent, repentance, repine,
repining, rue, rue the day, ruefulness, sadness, scruple,
second thoughts, self-condemnation, self-reproach, shame,
shamefacedness, shamefastness, shamefulness, sorriness, sorrow,
weep over, wistfulness, woe
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
regretted, regretting, repent, rue, ruefulness, sorrow
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