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regret Definition

re·gret (ri gret′)

transitive verb -·gret′·ted, -·gret′·ting

  1. to feel sorry about or mourn for (a person or thing gone, lost, etc.)
  2. to feel troubled or remorseful over (something that has happened, one's own acts, etc.)

Etymology: ME regretten < OFr regreter, to bewail the dead < re- + Gmc base as in OE gretan, ON grata, Goth gretan, to weep

noun

  1. a troubled feeling or remorse over something that has happened, esp. over something that one has done or left undone
  2. sorrow over a person or thing gone, lost, etc.

regret Related Forms
re·gret′·ful adjective re·gret′·fully adverb re·gret′·ful·ness noun re·gret′·ter noun
regret Idioms

(one's) regrets

a polite expression of regret, as at declining an invitation

regret Synonyms

regret

n.

  1. Remorse

    concern, compunction, worry, repentance, self-reproach, self-condemnation, self-disgust, misgiving, regretfulness, nostalgia, self-accusation, contrition, qualm, scruple, penitence, bitterness, disappointment, dissatisfaction, uneasiness, conscience, discomfort, annoyance, spiritual disturbance; see also care 2, repentance.

    Antonyms comfort*, satisfaction*, ease. *

  2. Grief

    sorrow, pain, anxiety; see grief 1. See syn. study at repentance.

regret Synonyms

regret

v.

  1. To be sorry for

    mourn, bewail, lament, cry over, rue, grieve, repent, repine, have compunctions about, feel remorse for, look back upon, feel conscience-stricken, bemoan, moan, have a bad conscience, have qualms about, weep over, be disturbed over, feel uneasy about, rue the day, laugh out of the other side of one's mouth*, kick oneself*, bite one's tongue*, cry over spilt milk*.

    Antonyms celebrate*, rejoice*, be satisfied with.

  2. To disapprove of

    deplore, be opposed to, deprecate; see censure, disapprove 1, dislike.

regret Usage Examples

Object

  • inconvenience: We deeply regret any inconvenience that this possible compromise may cause you.
  • passing: They regret the passing of the old and don't welcome the new.
  • pet: Also the use of large gardens, but regret no pets.
  • disappearance: One correction: Contemporary Breton storytellers regret the disappearance of true dark, pitch-black nights, full of things unseen.
  • decision: We haven't regretted the decision for a second.
  • loss: They don't regret the loss of innocent, civilian life.

Converse of object

  • express: Visitors to the local shop on the corner of Peel Street expressed regret at what had happened.

Preposition: that

  • refund: WHSmith regrets that no refunds can be given once the registration form has been returned.
  • cannot: We regret that a grant cannot be paid for work, which has started or completed prior to grant approval.

Adjective modifier

  • deep: However, this often leads to a sense of deep regret in future years.
  • profound: The newspaper apologized and expressed " profound regret over the unauthorized publication " , in a front page statement on Sunday.
  • considerable: This decision by the Government is of considerable regret to me.
  • great: To his great regret, these impulsive acts cost him dearly.

Modifying Another Word

  • bitterly: We never met up for that beer, something I now deeply regret bitterly.
  • deeply: I deeply regret not having seen any of the reunion shows.
  • sincerely: I regretted sincerely that I had not also a room for Mr Scott.

Infinitive complement

  • announce: The University regrets to announce the death of Norman William Grimes on 27th July 2001.
  • inform: We regret to inform you our bid was not successful to purchase this property.
  • say: I regret to say that my own interest was aroused.

Present participle complement

  • buy: Do I now regret not buying a German van?
regret Quotes

When vain desire at last and vain regret Go hand in hand to death, and all is vain, What shall assuage the unforgotten pain And teach the unforgetful to forget?

—Rossetti, Dante Gabriel

If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.

—Epstein,JuliusJ

Youth is a blunder; Manhood a struggle; Old Age a regret.

—Disraeli, Benjamin, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield

My one regret in life is that I am not someone else.

—Allen,Woody pseudonym of  Allen Stewart Konigsberg

The only possible regret I have isthe feeling that I will die without having played enough tennis.

—Borotra,Jean

My only regret in the theatre is that I could never sit out front and watch me.

—Barrymore,John

O last regret, regret can die!

—Tennyson

I only regretthat Ihave but onelifeto losefor mycountry.

—Hale, Nathan

I regret very much that I have painted a picture that requires any description.

—Homer,Winslow

This is the last day of1943, a year to be said goodbye to without regret, holding as it did nothing beyond captivity and depression, weary waiting, and above all the sight of immeasurable human misery, suffering and death.

—Hardie, Robert

I shall be but a short time tonight. I have seldom spoken with greaterregret, for my lips arenot yet unsealed.Were thesetroubles over I would make a case, and Iguarantee that not a man would go into the lobby against us.

—Baldwin (of Bewdley), Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl

   Ah, sad and strange as in dark summer dawns The earliest pipe of half-awakened birds To dying ears, when unto dying eyes The casement slowly grows a glimmering square; So sad, so strange, the days that are no more. Dear as remembered kisses after death, And sweet as those by hopeless fancy feigned On lips that are for others; deep as love, Deep as first love, and wild with all regret; O Death in Life, the days that are no more.

—Tennyson