name
Meaning 1
A surname.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
sorrow
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Received-Pronunciation: sŏrʼō
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˈsɒɹəʊ/
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General-American: /ˈsɑɹoʊ/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Canada: /ˈsɔɹoʊ/
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Scotland: /ˈsɔɾo/
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Wales: /ˈsɔɾou/ without the toe–tow merger
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rhymes with -ɒɹəʊ
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CMU ARPABET: S AA1 R OW0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
unhappiness, woe
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: dejection, blueness, tristesse, mirthless, blues, crestfallenness, depression, despondency, distress, dolefulness, downheartedness, drearihead, forlornness, grief, heartsore, ill-being, infelicity, melancholia, melancholy, misery, mishappiness, mourn, prosternation, regret, rue, ruth, sadness, sorrow, sorrowfulness, tristfulness, undelight, unhappiness, woe, woefare, wretchedness
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
(usually in plural) An instance or cause of unhappiness.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
Examples
- Parting is such sweet sorrow.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: misfortune, woe, adversity, apocalypse, calamity, catastrophe, disaster, misery, qualm, affliction, aggrievance, distress, grief, grievance, hardship, ruth, sadness, sorrow, undelight, vexation, wrong
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 4
To feel or express grief.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: grieve, mourn, aggrieve, besorrow, condole, darken, engrieve, erme, gloom, grieven, bleed, lament, moan, remorse, repent, regret, rue, sigh, sorrow, wayment, yearn
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 5
To feel grief over; to mourn, regret.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: bewail, grieve, afterthink, becry, begrieve, bemoan, bemourn, beweep, condole, deplore, elegize, grieven, keen, lament, mean, mourn, pine, repent, sigh, sorrow, wail, wayment
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
something that causes great unhappiness
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- her death was a great grief to John
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: grief
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: negative stimulus
noun
Meaning 7
an emotion of great sadness associated with loss or bereavement
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- he tried to express his sorrow at her loss
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: joy
Broader terms: sadness, unhappiness
Narrower terms: broken heart, grief, heartache, heartbreak, brokenheartedness, mournfulness, sorrowfulness, ruthfulness, self-pity
noun
Meaning 8
sadness associated with some wrong done or some disappointment
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- he drank to drown his sorrows
- he wrote a note expressing his regret
- to his rue, the error cost him the game
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: regret, rue, ruefulness
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: sadness, unhappiness
Narrower terms: attrition, contrition, contriteness, compunction, remorse, self-reproach
noun
Meaning 9
the state of being sad
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- she tired of his perpetual sadness
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: sadness, sorrowfulness
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: unhappiness
Narrower terms: mourning, bereavement, poignance, poignancy
verb
Meaning 10
feel grief
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: grieve
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: suffer
Narrower terms: mourn, feel for, pity, compassionate, condole with, sympathize with
History
Etymology
Probably a calque of German Sorge (“sorrow”).
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.
Across languages
Translations
250 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Albanian: keqardhje — unhappiness
- Albanian: zor — unhappiness
- Albanian: brengosje — unhappiness
- Albanian: brengë — unhappiness
- American Sign Language: A@Chest-PalmBack CirclesVert — unhappiness
- Arabic: حُزْن (ḥuzn) — unhappiness
- Armenian: տխրություն (txrutʻyun) — unhappiness
- Armenian: վիշտ (višt) — unhappiness
- Azerbaijani: kədər — unhappiness
- Azerbaijani: qəm — unhappiness
- Azerbaijani: hüzn — unhappiness
- Azerbaijani: dərd — unhappiness
- Azerbaijani: qüssə — unhappiness
- Azerbaijani: qəm-qüssə — unhappiness
- Azerbaijani: ələm — unhappiness
- Belarusian: сму́так (smútak) — unhappiness
- Belarusian: печа́ль (pječálʹ) — unhappiness
- Belarusian: го́ра (hóra) — unhappiness
- Belarusian: сум (sum) — unhappiness
- Belarusian: туга́ (tuhá) — unhappiness
- Bengali: দুঃখ (dukkho) — unhappiness
- Bengali: দেরেগ (dereg) — unhappiness
- Bengali: গোসা (gōśa) — unhappiness
- Bengali: নারাজী (narazī) — unhappiness
- Breton: kastiz — unhappiness
- Bulgarian: скръб (skrǎb) — unhappiness
- Bulgarian: печа́л (pečál) — unhappiness
- Bulgarian: жа́лост (žálost) — unhappiness
- Bulgarian: го́рест (górest) — unhappiness
- Burmese: ပရိဒေဝ (pa.ri.dewa.) — unhappiness
- Burmese: အဆွေး (a.hcwe:) — unhappiness
- Burmese: အပူ (a.pu) — unhappiness
- Catalan: tristesa — unhappiness
- Catalan: dolor — unhappiness
- Catalan: pena — unhappiness
- Chinese Mandarin: 悲傷 /悲伤 (bēishāng) — unhappiness
- Chinese Mandarin: 悲哀 (bēi'āi) — unhappiness
- Chinese Mandarin: 感傷 /感伤 (gǎnshāng) — unhappiness
- Czech: smutek — unhappiness
- Danish: sorg — unhappiness
- Danish: smerte — unhappiness
- Danish: græmmelse — unhappiness
- Dutch: verdriet — unhappiness
- Dutch: smart — unhappiness
- Dutch: droefheid — unhappiness
- Esperanto: malĝojo — unhappiness
- Estonian: kurbus — unhappiness
- Finnish: suru — unhappiness
- Finnish: murhe — unhappiness
- Finnish: huoli — unhappiness
- French: peine — unhappiness
- French: chagrin — unhappiness
- Galician: tristura — unhappiness
- Galician: pena — unhappiness
- Galician: pesadume — unhappiness
- Georgian: დარდი (dardi) — unhappiness
- Georgian: ვარამი (varami) — unhappiness
- Georgian: წუხილი (c̣uxili) — unhappiness
- Georgian: მწუხარება (mc̣uxareba) — unhappiness
- Georgian: სევდა (sevda) — unhappiness
- Georgian: ნაღველი (naɣveli) — unhappiness
- German: Kummer — unhappiness
- German: Traurigkeit — unhappiness
- German: Trauer — unhappiness
- German: Sorge — unhappiness
- German: Kümmernis — unhappiness
- German: Leiden — unhappiness
- German: Gram — unhappiness
- Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌹𐌸𐌰 (gauriþa) — unhappiness
- Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌴𐌹 (gaurei) — unhappiness
- Greek: λύπη (lýpi) — unhappiness
- Greek: θλίψη (thlípsi) — unhappiness
- Ancient Greek: λύπη (lúpē) — unhappiness
- Hebrew: צַעַר (tsa'ár) — unhappiness
- Hindi: दुःख (duḥkh) — unhappiness
- Hindi: उदासी (udāsī) — unhappiness
- Hindi: शोक (śok) — unhappiness
- Hindi: ग़म (ġam) — unhappiness
- Hindi: अफ़सोस (afsos) — unhappiness
- Hungarian: bánat — unhappiness
- Hungarian: szomorúság — unhappiness
- Hungarian: bú — unhappiness
- Hungarian: búbánat — unhappiness
- Icelandic: sorg — unhappiness
- Ido: chagreno — unhappiness
- Indonesian: kesedihan — unhappiness
- Ingrian: murhe — unhappiness
- Irish: brón — unhappiness
- Irish: cumha — unhappiness
- Irish: tuirse — unhappiness
- Irish: ong — unhappiness
- Irish: dólás — unhappiness
- Italian: tristezza — unhappiness
- Italian: dolore — unhappiness
- Italian: pena — unhappiness
- Italian: afflizione — unhappiness
- Italian: infelicità — unhappiness
- Japanese: 悲しみ (kanashimi) — unhappiness
- Japanese: 悲哀 (hiai) — unhappiness
- Kazakh: қайғы (qaiğy) — unhappiness
- Kazakh: зар (zar) — unhappiness
- Khmer: ទុក្ខ (tuk) — unhappiness
- Khmer: ថ្នាំង (thnang) — unhappiness
- Khmer: សោក (saok) — unhappiness
- Kikuyu: kĩeha — unhappiness
- Korean: 슬픔 (seulpeum) — unhappiness
- Korean: 비애 (biae) — unhappiness
- Korean: 시름 (sireum) — unhappiness
- Central Kurdish: داخ (dax) — unhappiness
- Central Kurdish: خەفەت (xefet) — unhappiness
- Northern Kurdish: xem — unhappiness
- Northern Kurdish: kovan — unhappiness
- Northern Kurdish: keder — unhappiness
- Northern Kurdish: keser — unhappiness
- Kyrgyz: кайгы (kaygı) — unhappiness
- Lao: ຄວາມໂສກເສົ້າ (khuām sōk sao) — unhappiness
- Latgalian: skume — unhappiness
- Latgalian: žālobys — unhappiness
- Latin: luctus — unhappiness
- Latin: aegritudo — unhappiness
- Latvian: sēras — unhappiness
- Latvian: bēdas — unhappiness
- Lithuanian: liūdesys — unhappiness
- Macedonian: тага (taga) — unhappiness
- Malagasy: alahelo — unhappiness
- Malay: kesedihan — unhappiness
- Manx: bran — unhappiness
- Manx: seaghyn — unhappiness
- Manx: smeih — unhappiness
- Manx: sou-aigney — unhappiness
- Manx: trimshey — unhappiness
- Manx: dobberan — unhappiness
- Māori: pāpōuri — unhappiness
- Middle English: sorwe — unhappiness
- Middle English: hevyte — unhappiness
- Mongolian: уй гашуу (uj gašuu) — unhappiness
- Mongolian: гашуудал (gašuudal) — unhappiness
- Norwegian Bokmål: sorg — unhappiness
- Norwegian Nynorsk: sorg — unhappiness
- Occitan: tristesa — unhappiness
- Occitan: dolor — unhappiness
- Occitan: pena — unhappiness
- Old English: sorg — unhappiness
- Old English: caru — unhappiness
- Old Norse: sorg — unhappiness
- Oromo: gadda — unhappiness
- Persian: غم (ġam) — unhappiness
- Persian: اندوه (anduh) — unhappiness
- Persian: زاری (zâri) — unhappiness
- Persian: حزن (hozn) — unhappiness
- Polish: smutek — unhappiness
- Portuguese: tristeza — unhappiness
- Portuguese: mágoa — unhappiness
- Portuguese: pesar — unhappiness
- Punjabi: ਦੁੱਖ (dukh) — unhappiness
- Punjabi: ਦੁਖ (dukh) — unhappiness
- Punjabi: دکھ (dkh) — unhappiness
- Quechua: llaki — unhappiness
- Quechua: phuti — unhappiness
- Romanian: tristețe — unhappiness
- Romanian: întristare — unhappiness
- Romanian: mâhnire — unhappiness
- Romanian: supărare — unhappiness
- Romanian: nefericire — unhappiness
- Romanian: durere — unhappiness
- Russian: го́ре (góre) — unhappiness
- Russian: печа́ль (pečálʹ) — unhappiness
- Russian: грусть (grustʹ) — unhappiness
- Russian: тоска́ (toská) — unhappiness
- Russian: уны́ние (unýnije) — unhappiness
- Russian: скорбь (skorbʹ) — unhappiness
- Sanskrit: अप्रसन्नता (aprasannatā) — unhappiness
- Sanskrit: दुःख (duḥkha) — unhappiness
- Scottish Gaelic: bròn — unhappiness
- Scottish Gaelic: èislean — unhappiness
- Scottish Gaelic: duilichinn — unhappiness
- Scottish Gaelic: doilgheas — unhappiness
- Scottish Gaelic: tùirse — unhappiness
- Scottish Gaelic: mulad — unhappiness
- Serbo-Croatian: жа̏ло̄ст — unhappiness
- Serbo-Croatian: ту́га — unhappiness
- Serbo-Croatian: žȁlōst — unhappiness
- Serbo-Croatian: túga — unhappiness
- Slovak: smútok — unhappiness
- Slovak: zármutok — unhappiness
- Slovene: žalost — unhappiness
- Southern Altai: кайгы (kaygï) — unhappiness
- Spanish: pesar — unhappiness
- Spanish: pesadumbre — unhappiness
- Spanish: pena — unhappiness
- Spanish: sinsabor — unhappiness
- Spanish: quebranto — unhappiness
- Spanish: acíbar — unhappiness
- Swedish: sorg — unhappiness
- Tajik: ғам (ġam) — unhappiness
- Tajik: андӯҳ (andüh) — unhappiness
- Tajik: ҳузн (huzn) — unhappiness
- Tajik: ғусса (ġussa) — unhappiness
- Tamil: சோகம் (cōkam) — unhappiness
- Tamil: துக்கம் (tukkam) — unhappiness
- Tamil: துயரம் (tuyaram) — unhappiness
- Tatar: кайгы (qayğı) — unhappiness
- Telugu: దిగులు (digulu) — unhappiness
- Telugu: బాధ (bādha) — unhappiness
- Thai: ความทุกข์ (kwaam-túk) — unhappiness
- Thai: ความเศร้า (kwaam sâo) — unhappiness
- Thai: ทุกข์ (túk) — unhappiness
- Tocharian B: mentsi — unhappiness
- Turkish: üzüntü — unhappiness
- Turkish: keder — unhappiness
- Turkmen: gussa — unhappiness
- Turkmen: gynanç — unhappiness
- Ukrainian: печа́ль (pečálʹ) — unhappiness
- Ukrainian: го́ре (hóre) — unhappiness
- Ukrainian: сму́ток (smútok) — unhappiness
- Ukrainian: скорбо́та (skorbóta) — unhappiness
- Urdu: غم (ġam) — unhappiness
- Urdu: افسوس (afsos) — unhappiness
- Urdu: دکھ (dukh) — unhappiness
- Urdu: سوگ (sug) — unhappiness
- Urdu: اداسی (udāsī) — unhappiness
- Uyghur: قايغۇ (qayghu) — unhappiness
- Uzbek: qaygʻu — unhappiness
- Uzbek: anduh — unhappiness
- Uzbek: gʻam — unhappiness
- Vietnamese: nỗi buồn — unhappiness
- Vietnamese: sự buồn — unhappiness
- Welsh: tristwch — unhappiness
- Welsh: trymfryd — unhappiness
- Welsh: galar — unhappiness
- Welsh: gofid — unhappiness
- Catalan: dolor — instance or cause of unhappiness
- Catalan: pena — instance or cause of unhappiness
- Catalan: tristor — instance or cause of unhappiness
- Finnish: suru — instance or cause of unhappiness
- Finnish: murhe — instance or cause of unhappiness
- Finnish: huoli — instance or cause of unhappiness
- Irish: dólás — instance or cause of unhappiness
- Middle English: sorwe — instance or cause of unhappiness
- Old English: sorg — instance or cause of unhappiness
- Old English: caru — instance or cause of unhappiness
- Russian: го́ре (góre) — instance or cause of unhappiness
- Russian: печа́ль (pečálʹ) — instance or cause of unhappiness
- Russian: грусть (grustʹ) — instance or cause of unhappiness
- Bulgarian: скърбя (skǎrbja) — to show grief
- Bulgarian: тъгувам (tǎguvam) — to show grief
- Māori: huamo — to show grief
- Middle English: sorwen — to show grief
- Persian: نهیدن (nehidan) — to show grief
- Telugu: శోకించు (śōkiñcu) — to show grief
Real reading context