regretful — regretful, regrettable Regretful means ‘feeling regret’ and applies to a person, whereas regrettable means ‘causing regret’ and applies to an action: • He did not crave recognition, but was understandably regretful about his lack of it E.… … Modern English usage
Regretful — Re*gret ful ( f?l), a. Full of regret; indulging in regrets; repining. {Re*gret ful*ly}, adv. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
regretful — index contrite, penitent, remorseful, repentant Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 … Law dictionary
regretful — 1640s, “full of regret,” from REGRET (Cf. regret) + FUL (Cf. ful). Regretfully incorrectly used in place of regrettably since at least 1965. “A regrettable use, prob. after HOPEFULLY” [OED] … Etymology dictionary
regretful — [adj] sad, sorry apologetic, ashamed, attritional, compunctious, contrite, disappointed, mournful, penitent, remorseful, repentant, rueful, sorrowful; concept 403 Ant. content, happy, not guilty, satisfied … New thesaurus
regretful — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ feeling or showing regret. DERIVATIVES regretfulness noun … English terms dictionary
regretful — [[t]rɪgre̱tfʊl[/t]] ADJ GRADED: oft ADJ about n, ADJ that If you are regretful, you show that you regret something. Mr Griffin gave a regretful smile... Surprisingly, she didn t feel nervous, or regretful about her actions. Derived words:… … English dictionary
regretful — re|gret|ful [rıˈgretfəl] adj someone who is regretful feels sorry or disappointed ▪ She apologized and sounded genuinely regretful … Dictionary of contemporary English
regretful — See regretful, regrettable … Dictionary of problem words and expressions
regretful — re|gret|ful [ rı gretfl ] adjective sad or sorry: George sounded a little regretful that he hadn t been there … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
regretful — adjective feeling or showing regret: Shannon shook her head with a regretful smile. Derivatives regretfulness noun … English new terms dictionary
