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Word of the Day – Tuesday, February 28th

 


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ALAS (uh-LASS)

Expression of sorrow, regret, or grief
Common clues: Woe is me!; Word of woe; “Sad to say...”; Word of regret; “Too bad!”; Regrettably; [sigh]; Cry of dismay; Despondent comment; "Ah, me!"; "Oh, dear!"
Crossword puzzle frequency: 15 times a year
Frequency in English language: 9451 / 86800
Video:
Office frustration


Alas, how quickly the gratitude owed to the dead flows off, how quick to be proved a deceiver ~ Sophocles (497–406/5 B.C.)



John Greenleaf Whittier's fictional heroine Maud Muller gazes into the distance, regretting her inaction and thinking about what might have been.


Regret is an intelligent (and/or emotional) dislike for personal past acts and behaviors. Regret is often felt when someone feels sadness, shame, or guilt after committing an action or actions that the person later wishes that he or she had not done. Regret is distinct from guilt, which is a deeply emotional form of regret — one which may be difficult to comprehend in an objective or conceptual way. In this regard, the concept of regret is subordinate to guilt in terms of its "emotional power." By comparison, shame typically refers to the social (rather than personal) aspect of guilt or (in minor context) regret as imposed by the society or culture (enforcement of ethics, morality), which has substantial bearing in matters of (personal and social) honor.


Regret can describe not only the dislike for an action that has been committed, but also, importantly, regret of inaction. Many people find themselves wishing that they had done something in a past situation.



This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Regret".