Regret

/ɹɪˈɡɹɛt/ · verb

Meaning

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..

Definitions by Sense

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.
2. (more generally) To feel sorry about (any thing).
3. (archaic, transitive) To miss; to feel the loss or absence of; to mourn.
4. 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.
5. (obsolete) Dislike; aversion.
6. (decision theory) The amount of avoidable loss that results from choosing the wrong action.
7. A person invited to an event who was unable to attend, but notified the organizer of this beforehand; a nonattendee.

Example Sentences

He regretted his words.

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

Judge Short had gone to town, and Farrar was off for a three days' cruise up the lake. I was bitterly regretting I had not gone with him when the distant notes of a coach horn reached my ear, and I descried a four-in-hand winding its way up the inn road from the direction of Mohair.

Dear humanity, we regret bein' alien bastards, we regret comin' to Earth, and we most definitely regret the Corps just blew up our raggedy-ass fleet!

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

They said they regretted to inform us that the train would be late.

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

This [the Cage] was but one of Cluny’s hiding-places; he had caves, besides, and underground chambers in several parts of his country; and following the reports of his scouts, he moved from one to another as the soldiers drew near or moved away. By this manner of living, and thanks to the affection of his clan, he had not only stayed all this time in safety, while so many others had fled or been taken and slain: but stayed four or five years longer, and only went to France at last by the express command of his master. There he soon died; and it is strange to reflect that he may have regretted his Cage upon Ben Alder.

Synonyms for regret

Antonyms for regret

Related Words

Word Forms

• regrets
• regretting
• regretted

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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