regret

CEFRB1

/ɹɪˈɡɹɛt/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To feel sorry about something you did or did not do.

  2. 02

    noun

    A feeling of sadness about a past action or decision.

Examples

  • Sooner or later, you will regret your idleness.

  • We regret this service is temporarily unavailable.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /ɹiˈɡɹɛt/

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To miss; to feel the loss or absence of; to mourn.

  2. 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.

  3. To feel sorry about (any thing).

More examples

In context

  • You will soon regret your rash conduct.

  • I don't regret enrolling in law, but I regret not studying some Chinese.

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

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

After yelling at his friend, he began to blank his harsh words deeply.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English regretten, regreten, from Old French regreter, regrater (“to lament”), from re- (intensive prefix) + *greter, *grater (“to weep”), from Frankish *grātan (“to weep, mourn, lament”), from Proto-Germanic *grētaną (“to weep”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰreh₁d- (“to sound”); and Frankish *greutan (“to cry, weep”), from Proto-Germanic *greutaną (“to weep, cry”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrewd- (“to weep, be sad”), equivalent to re- + greet. Cognate with Old High German grāzan (“to cry”), Old English grǣtan (“to weep, greet”), Old English grēotan (“to weep, lament”), Old Norse gráta (“to weep, groan”), Gothic 𐌲𐍂𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽 (grētan, “to weep”). More at greet.