sorrow
Americannoun
-
sorrows
plural
-
distress caused by loss, affliction, disappointment, etc.; grief, sadness, or regret.
-
a cause or occasion of grief or regret, as an affliction, a misfortune, or trouble.
His first sorrow was the bank failure.
- Synonyms:
- adversity
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the expression of grief, sadness, disappointment, or the like.
muffled sorrow.
verb (used without object)
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sorrows,
present (3rd person singular)
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sorrowed,
past participle, past
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sorrowing
present participle
noun
-
the characteristic feeling of sadness, grief, or regret associated with loss, bereavement, sympathy for another's suffering, for an injury done, etc
-
a particular cause or source of regret, grief, etc
-
Also called: sorrowing. the outward expression of grief or sadness
verb
Synonym Usage
Sorrow, distress, grief, misery, woe imply bitter suffering, especially as caused by loss or misfortune. Sorrow is the most general term. Grief is keen suffering, especially for a particular reason. Distress implies anxiety, anguish, or acute suffering caused by the pressure of trouble or adversity. Misery suggests such great and unremitting pain or wretchedness of body or mind as crushes the spirit. Woe is deep or inconsolable grief or misery.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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sorrowernoun
-
sorrowfulnessnoun
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sorrowfuladjective
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sorrowlessadjective
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unsorrowingadjective
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sorrowfullyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
sorrowsimple
-
sorrowssimple
-
have sorrowedperfect
-
has sorrowedperfect
-
am sorrowingprogressive
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are sorrowingprogressive
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is sorrowingprogressive
-
have been sorrowingperfect progressive
-
has been sorrowingperfect progressive
Past
-
sorrowedsimple
-
had sorrowedperfect
-
was sorrowingprogressive
-
were sorrowingprogressive
-
had been sorrowingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sorrow
First recorded before 900; (noun) Middle English; Old English sorg; cognate with German Sorge, Dutch zorg, Old Norse sorg, Gothic saurga; (verb) Middle English sorwen, Old English sorgian; cognate with Old High German sorgôn
Explanation
Sorrow is a feeling of immense sadness, like the sorrow you would feel if your best friend suddenly moved across the country. Sorrow is an almost unbearable sadness. In fact, it is often used as a synonym for grief. If you drop a pretty picture frame and it breaks, you might feel sad. If, on the other hand, your entire house — including that picture frame — burns to the ground, you will feel sorrow at the loss of everything, including the photographs and other mementos you can never replace.
Vocabulary lists containing sorrow
"The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs
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Emotions on Display
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The Times continues "slavery was evil but we helped end it", leading with King Charles' expressing his "most profound sorrow" over the transatlantic slave trade.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
The Sunday Times also carries a front page write saying the King "will follow Burnham by addressing slavery 'with sincere sorrow'".
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
Expressing "sorrow and regret for the pain and suffering of so many millions" resulting from the trade and its links to the present day, he insisted reparations were not "the right answer".
From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2026
But genuinely funny moments are rare, badly outnumbered by done-to-death musings regarding the mysteries of being alive and torturous melodramatic moments in which Klara dully absorbs the severity of Josie’s illness and Chrissy’s sorrow.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
Some have seen sorrow; but there are fair days yet in store.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
That name — “dolores,” meaning sorrows — “seemed appropriate given what was to come,” San Francisco historian Alec Scott told me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
It’s not just a byproduct of social media, 24/7 cable news and our shared tendency to drowning in constant updates on the sorrows of the world.
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026
“Renoir” may be a delicate wisp of a film, but it’s flecked with thoughtful questioning about whether childhood’s sorrows leave permanent scars on us as adults.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
Life in Halifax had its joys and sorrows.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
Everything that was not suffered to the end and finally concluded, recurred, and the same sorrows were undergone.
From "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse
And I sorrowed for my father’s harm as though I had been smitten myself; so sorrowed I for his unhappy old age.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2019
“We are incredibly sorrowed at the loss of Officer Galvez and our thoughts and prayers are with all who knew and loved him.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 19, 2015
You’ve clucked, sorrowed and sighed at “The Pride”: plus ça change, plus c’est la même self-esteem issue.
From New York Times ● Mar. 8, 2010
"I don't think I can take it like I used to," sorrowed Mahalia, "but I'll keep faith."
From Time Magazine Archive
The cap’n sat at the foot of Pap and Ma’s bed and said, “I’m sure sorrowed to hear ’bout Big Charlie’s run-in with that ax.
From "The Journey of Little Charlie" by Christopher Paul Curtis
The challenge for the author is to write a pulse-pounding thriller without sorrowing over this injustice too much.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2023
“We mend, but we don’t forget,” she offers by way of comfort to the sorrowing nobleman.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 15, 2022
“Words fail to describe the grateful relief that this work has brought to many a sorrowing household,” wrote David Wills, a lawyer who led the effort to create the Gettysburg National Cemetery.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 4, 2020
The pervading mood in “Trickster Feminism” is of a piece with our national mood: gloom-filled, sorrowing, yet occasionally threaded with hope.
From New York Times ● Dec. 12, 2018
Demeter, goddess of the harvest wealth, was still more the divine sorrowing mother who saw her daughter die each year.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
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