Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Sorrow or grief; misery. synonym: regret.
- noun Misfortune or wretchedness.
- noun A cause of sorrow or misery; a misfortune.
- interjection Used to express sorrow or dismay.
- idiom (woe is me) Used to lament one's situation or fate.
- idiom (woe to (someone)) Used to express the wish that misfortune befall someone.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Alas! an exclamation of pain or grief. See
woe , n. - noun Grief; sorrow; misery; heavy calamity.
- noun A heavy calamity; an affliction.
- noun It is also used in exclamations of sorrow, in such cases the noun or pronoun following being really in the dative.
- noun Synonyms Distress, tribulation, affliction, bitterness, unhappiness, wretchedness. Woe is an intense unhappiness; the word is strong aud elevated, almost poetical.
- Sad; sorrowful; miserable; woeful; wretched.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective obsolete Woeful; sorrowful.
- noun Grief; sorrow; misery; heavy calamity.
- noun A curse; a malediction.
- noun Woe be to. See
Worth , v. i.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun
grief ;sorrow ;misery ;heavy calamity . - adjective obsolete
woeful ;sorrowful
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun intense mournfulness
- noun misery resulting from affliction
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word woe.
Examples
-
In this chapter, Jesus used the word woe eight times as a strong warning to those who, through legalism, were keeping people out of heaven.
Surviving in an Angry World Charles F. Stanley 2010
-
Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris -- To have companions in woe is a solace to those who suffer.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume IV (Isaiah to Malachi) 1721
-
This woe is the moral of that judicial law (Exod.xxi. 33, 34-22: 6), that he who opened the pit, and kindled the fire, was accountable for all the damage that ensued.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume V (Matthew to John) 1721
-
It bespoke them rebellious children; and a woe is here denounced against them under that character, v. 1.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume IV (Isaiah to Malachi) 1721
-
Virtually all of the recommendations in this piece call for a greater role for the government, and I don't apologize for any of that, for when the mountain of woe is as high as it is now, you call for Edmund Hillary, which in this case is the government.
Leo Hindery, Jr.: Out of School, Out of Work, Out of Luck: The Youth Jobs Crisis Jr. Leo Hindery 2010
-
Virtually all of the recommendations in this piece call for a greater role for the government, and I don't apologize for any of that, for when the mountain of woe is as high as it is now, you call for Edmund Hillary, which in this case is the government.
Leo Hindery, Jr.: Out of School, Out of Work, Out of Luck: The Youth Jobs Crisis Jr. Leo Hindery 2010
-
I'm in currently in the "woe is me" stage, which was preceded by the overwhelmed state.
-
Virtually all of the recommendations in this piece call for a greater role for the government, and I don't apologize for any of that, for when the mountain of woe is as high as it is now, you call for Edmund Hillary, which in this case is the government.
Leo Hindery, Jr.: Out of School, Out of Work, Out of Luck: The Youth Jobs Crisis Jr. Leo Hindery 2010
-
Yesterday's verse got little traction the status message poetry faction was completely out of action woe is me
Archive 2009-03-01 2009
-
All of those effete young men flitting about in their blue waistcoats and yellow britches crying ‘woe is me’ before offing themselves?
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.