Rue

/ɹuː/ · noun

Meaning

(archaic or dialectal) Sorrow; repentance; regret..

Definitions by Sense

1. (archaic or dialectal) Sorrow; repentance; regret.
2. (archaic or dialectal) Pity; compassion.
3. (transitive) To repent of or regret (some past action or event); to wish that a past action or event had not taken place.
4. (obsolete, transitive) To cause to repent of sin or regret some past action.
5. (obsolete, transitive) To cause to feel sorrow or pity.
6. (archaic or obsolete, intransitive, often with on or upon) To feel compassion or pity; to take pity (on), to have compassion (on).
7. (archaic, intransitive) To feel sorrow or regret.
8. Any of various perennial shrubs of the genus Ruta, especially the herb Ruta graveolens (common rue), formerly used in medicines.

Example Sentences

When I was one-and-twenty I heard him say again, / "The heart out of the bosom was never given in vain; / 'Tis paid with sighs aplenty and sold for endless rue." / And I am two-and-twenty, and oh, 'tis true, 'tis true.

to rue the day

I rued the day I crossed paths with her.

I wept to see, and rued it from my heart.

Thy will chose freely what it now so justly rues.

And feminization of the homeland is something to be rued, while the feminized humiliation of the enemy for the sake of the fatherland is cause for commendation and celebration.

And was the fact she was no longer losing large chunks of time something to be celebrated or something to be rued?

“If we get in a fight, you'll be ruing your lack of training.”

Synonyms for rue

Antonyms for rue

Related Words

Word Forms

• rewe
• rues
• ruing
• rueing
• rued

Usage Notes

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

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