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Webster 1913 Edition

Sorry

Sor′ry

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Sorrier
;
sup
erl.
Sorriest
.]
[OE.
sory
,
sary
, AS.
sārig
, fr.
sār
,
Noun.
,
sore
.
See
Sore
,
Noun.
&
Adj.
The original sense was, painful; hence, miserable, sad.]
1.
Grieved for the loss of some good; pained for some evil; feeling regret; – now generally used to express light grief or affliction, but formerly often used to express deeper feeling.
“I am sorry for my sins.”
Piers Plowman.
Ye were made
sorry
after a godly manner.
2 Cor. vii. 9.
I am
sorry
for thee, friend; ’t is the duke's pleasure.
Shakespeare
She entered, were he lief or
sorry
.
Spenser.
2.
Melancholy; dismal; gloomy; mournful.
Spenser.
All full of chirking was this
sorry
place.
Chaucer.
3.
Poor; mean; worthless;
as, a
sorry
excuse
.
“With sorry grace.”
Chaucer.
Cheeks of
sorry
grain will serve.
Milton.
Good fruit will sometimes grow on a
sorry
tree.
Sir W. Scott.
Syn. – Hurt; afflicted; mortified; vexed; chagrined; melancholy; dismal; poor; mean; pitiful.

Webster 1828 Edition

Sorry

SOR'RY

, a.
1.
Grieved for the loss of some good; pained for some evil that has happened to one's self or friends or country. It does not ordinarily imply severe grief, but rather slight or transient regret. It may be however, and often is used to express deep grief. We are sorry to lose the company of those we love; we are sorry to lose friends or property; we are sorry for the misfortunes of our friends or of out country. And the king was sorry. Matt 14.
2.
Melancholy; dismal.
3.
Poor; mean; vile; worthless; as a sorry slave; a sorry excuse. Coarse complexions, and cheeks of sorry grain-

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