Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Regret
1.
Pain of mind 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; grief; sorrow; especially, a mourning on account of the loss of some joy, advantage, or satisfaction.
“A passionate regret at sin.” Dr. H. More.
What man does not remember with
regret
the first time he read Robinson Crusoe? Macaulay.
Never any prince expressed a more lively
regret
for the loss of a servant. Clarendon.
From its peaceful bosom [the grave] spring none but fond
regrets
and tender recollections. W. Irving.
2.
Dislike; aversion.
[Obs.]
Dr. H. More.
Syn. – Grief; concern; sorrow; lamentation; repentance; penitence; self-condemnation.
–
Regret
, Remorse
, Compunction
, Contrition
, Repentance
. Regret does not carry with it the energy of remorse, the sting of compunction, the sacredness of contrition, or the practical character of repentance. We even apply the term regret to circumstance over which we have had no control, as the absence of friends or their loss. When connected with ourselves, it relates rather to unwise acts than to wrong or sinful ones. C. J. Smith.
Re-gret′
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Regretted
(-tĕd)
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Regretting
.] [F.
regretter
, OF. regreter
; L. pref. re-
re- + a word of Teutonic origin; cf. Goth. grētan
to weep, Icel. grāta
. See Greet
to lament.] To experience regret on account of; to lose or miss with a sense of regret; to feel sorrow or dissatisfaction on account of (the happening or the loss of something);
as, to
regret
an error; to regret
lost opportunities or friends.Calmly he looked on either life, and here
Saw nothing to
Saw nothing to
regret
, or there to fear. Pope.
In a few hours they [the Israelites] began to
regret
their slavery, and to murmur against their leader. Macaulay.
Recruits who
regretted
the plow from which they had been violently taken. Macaulay.
Webster 1828 Edition
Regret
REGRET'
,Noun.
1.
Grief; sorrow; pain of mind. We feel regret at the loss of friends, regret for our own misfortunes, or for the misfortunes of others.Never any prince expressed a more lively regret for the loss of a servant.
Her piety itself would blame, if her regrets should waken thine.
2.
Pain of conscience; remorse; as a passionate regret at sin.3.
Dislike; aversion. [Not proper nor in use.]REGRET'
,Verb.
T.
1.
To grieve at; to lament; to be sorry for; to repent.Calmly he look'd on either life, and here saw nothing to regret, or there to fear.
2.
To be uneasy at. [Not proper nor in use.]