regret

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Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɹɪˈɡɹɛt/, /ɹəˈɡɹɛt/, /ɹiˈɡɹɛt/

Verb

regret (regrets, present participle regretting; past and past participle regretted)

1. To feel sorry about (a thing that has or has not happened), afterthink: to wish that a thing had not happened, that something else had happened instead.

   He regretted his words.

2. (more generally) To feel sorry about (any thing).

   I regret that I have to do this, but I don't have a choice.

3. (archaic, transitive) To miss; to feel the loss or absence of.
   • 1845, The Church of England Magazine (volume 19, page 301)

     He more than ever regretted his home, and with increased desire longed to see his family.

Translations

• French: regretter
• German: bedauern, bereuen, leidtun
• Italian: rimpiangere, rammaricarsi, pentirsi
• Portuguese: arrepender-se, lamentar
• Russian: сожале́ть
• Spanish: lamentar, sentir, arrepentir

Translations

• Italian: rammaricarsi
• Russian: сожале́ть
• Spanish: lamentar

Noun

regret

1. Emotional pain 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.
   • 1828, Thomas Macaulay, John Dryden

     What man does not remember with regret the first time he read Robinson Crusoe?

   • Never any prince expressed a more lively regret for the loss of a servant.

   • From its peaceful bosom [the grave] spring none but fond regrets and tender recollections.

2. (obsolete) Dislike; aversion.

Translations

• French: regret
• German: Reue
• Italian: rammarico, rimpianto, rimorso, pentimento
• Portuguese: pesar, arrependimento
• Russian: сожале́ние
• Spanish: pesar, arrepentimiento

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