regret
[verb]
Synonyms:
- feel sorry about, bemoan, bewail, deplore, grieve, lament, miss, mourn, repent, rue
[noun]
Synonyms:
- sorrow, bitterness, compunction, contrition, penitence, remorse, repentance, ruefulness

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Related Words: bemoan, bewail, lament, grieve, mourn, sorrow, deprecate, disapprove, compunction, contrition, penitence, remorse, repentance, demur, qualm, scruple

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English Thesaurus: guilt, shame, regret, remorse, contrition, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. re‧gret¹ W3 /rɪˈɡret/ verb (past tense and past participle regretted, present participle regretting) [transitive]
[Word Family: adverb: regrettably, regretfully; adjective: regrettable, regretful; verb: regret; noun: regret]
[Date: 1400-1500; Language: Old French; Origin: regreter]

1. to feel sorry about something you have done and wish you had not done it:
Don’t do anything you might regret.
regret doing something
I regret leaving school so young.
regret (that)
He was beginning to regret that he’d come along.

2. [not in progressive] formal used in official letters or statements when saying that you are sorry or sad about something:
We regret any inconvenience caused to our customers.
regret (that)
I regret that I will be unable to attend.
regret to say/inform/tell
I regret to inform you that your contract will not be renewed.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. regret² noun
[Word Family: adverb: regrettably, regretfully; adjective: regrettable, regretful; verb: regret; noun: regret]

1. [countable usually plural, uncountable] sadness that you feel about something, especially because you wish it had not happened
regret about
I have no regrets about leaving.
great/deep regret
She has already expressed deep regret for what happened.
with regret
I decided with some regret that it was time to move on.
It is with great regret that I must decline your offer.
to sb’s regret
I lost touch with her, much to my regret.

2. give/send your regrets formal to say that you are unable to go to a meeting, accept an invitation etc:
My father was ill and had to send his regrets.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

regret
noun
ADJ. big, bitter, deep, genuine, great, profound, real, sincere Her biggest regret was that she had never had children. She expressed deep regret at the incident.
QUANT. pang, stab, tinge, twinge
VERB + REGRET feel, have I have absolutely no regrets about resigning.
express, show
PREP. to your ~ To my regret, I lost touch with her years ago.
with ~ It is with deep regret that we announce the death of Mr Fred Fisher.
without ~ She thought of them without regret.
~ about/over She showed no regret about leaving her country.
~ at my sincere regret at what has happened
~ for She enjoyed living alone, but felt a tiny pang of regret for her mother's cooking.
PHRASES expression of regret The police offered no expression of regret at his wrongful arrest.
a matter for/of regret I never learned to play an instrument and that's a matter of some regret.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

regret
verb
ADV. bitterly, deeply, greatly, really, very much The president said that his country deeply regretted the incident.
rather | immediately, instantly I immediately regretted not asking for his name and address.
later Pierre told them some things he later regretted telling.
never
VERB + REGRET begin to | come to, live to She knew that she would live to regret this decision.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

regret

deeply/greatly
I deeply regretted what had happened.
bitterly (=with a feeling of great sadness)
I bitterly regretted my decision to leave.
sincerely
The airline sincerely regrets any delays to passengers.
very much
We very much regret that there will be job losses.
instantly/immediately
‘No,’ she blurted out, instantly regretting her response.
live to regret something (=regret it in the future)
If you don’t go, you may live to regret it.
great/deep regret
I accepted his resignation with great regret.
bitter regret (=when you feel sad and angry)
To the bitter regret of his party, he refused to call an election.
sb’s biggest regret
Her biggest regret was not having children.
sb’s only regret
My only regret is that my parents did not live to see this day.
have regrets
I have absolutely no regrets.
express regret
The President expressed his regret at the deaths.
a pang/twinge/stab of regret literary (=a sudden short feeling of regret)
Kate watched her go with a pang of regret.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

regret
verb
BAD: In any case I didn't regret to stay at home.
GOOD: In any case I didn't regret staying at home.
BAD: I now regret not to have worked harder at school.
GOOD: I now regret not having worked harder at school.

Usage Note:
Regret is followed by a to-infinitive in formal letters to introduce a piece of bad news: 'I regret to inform you that your application for a scholarship has been unsuccessful.'
When you are talking about the past, use regret doing sth or regret that : 'I have often regretted leaving the police force.' 'I wonder if they ever regret not having gone to live abroad?' 'Now that it was too late, he regretted that he hadn't worked harder at school.'

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

guilt the feeling you have when you have done something you know is wrong:
Divorce often leaves people with feelings of guilt.
shame the feeling of being guilty or embarrassed that you have after doing something that is wrong, when you feel you have lost people’s respect:
I was too scared to help him, and I was filled with shame.
regret a feeling of sadness about something, especially because you wish it had not happened:
Kate watched her go with a pang of regret.
remorse a strong feeling of being sorry for doing something very bad:
a murderer who showed no remorse
contrition formal a feeling of being guilty and sorry for something wrong that you have done:
The company CEO expressed contrition for the errors that led to the crash.
He sounded full of contrition.
They wanted to perform some kind of act of contrition (=do something that shows you feel sorry for something ).
penitence formal a feeling of being sorry for something that you have done wrong, when you do not intend to do it again:
He expressed genuine penitence at the harm he had done her.
a period of reflection and penitence
conscience the part of your mind that tells you whether what you are doing is morally right or wrong:
My conscience has been troubling me ever since.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲