sorrow

CEFRB2

/ˈsɒɹəʊ/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    Deep sadness caused by loss or disappointment.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    (usually in plural) An instance or cause of unhappiness.

Examples

  • Between astonishment and sorrow, she could not speak a word.

  • Joy was mingled with sorrow.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /ˈsɑɹoʊ/
  • /ˈsɔɾou/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. To feel or express grief.

  2. unhappiness, woe

verb

Extra meaning

  1. To feel grief over; to mourn, regret.

More examples

In context

  • The safe and general antidote against sorrow is employment.

  • Parting is such sweet sorrow.

  • But sorrow that is couch'd in seeming gladness Is like that mirth fate turns to sudden sadness.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

She felt very deep blank after her beloved dog suddenly passed away.

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

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English sorwe, sorow, sorewe, from Old English sorg, sorh (“care, anxiety, sorrow, grief”), from Proto-West Germanic *sorgu, from Proto-Germanic *surgō (compare West Frisian soarch, Dutch zorg, German Sorge, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian sorg), from Proto-Indo-European *swergʰ- (“watch over, worry; be ill, suffer”) (compare Old Irish serg (“sickness”), Tocharian B sark (“sickness”), Lithuanian sirgti (“be sick”), Sanskrit सूर्क्षति (sū́rkṣati, “worry”). Despite the similarity in form and meaning, not historically related to sorry and sore.