Definition of woe
—used to express grief, regret, or distress
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Examples of woe in a Sentence
ah, woe, with the death of the last of my siblings I am alone in this world!
Origin and Etymology of woe
Middle English wa, wo, from Old English wā; akin to Old Norse vei, interjection, woe, Latin vae
NEW! Time Traveler
First Known Use: before 12th century
in the meaning defined above
See Words from the same yearDefinition of woe
1
: a condition of deep suffering from misfortune, affliction, or grief
2
: ruinous trouble : calamity, affliction
- economic woes
Examples of woe in a Sentence
The city's traffic woes are well-known.
a tale of misery and woe
Recent Examples of woe from the Web
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Team officials avoid saying the rise in promotions is tied to the Orioles’ on-field woes and attendance challenges.
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Johnny Depp appears on the latest cover of Rolling Stone for an in-depth look at his accumulation of legal woes and personal struggles.
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The album—a lean and loud thing; puffed up but never obnoxiously self-important—descends as the omega of Beyoncé and Jay-Z's years-long saga of woe and redemption.
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The vote comes as Spain continues to battle economic woes and after a long political crisis with separatists in the region of Catalonia, who tried to secede from the country.
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Older prisoners tend to be sicker than younger ones, and people often enter prison having had drug problems, mental-health woes and little access to good health care on the outside.
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But the new one has solved all these woes, and the packaging is easier on the eyes.
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The land is both a source of woe and an identity marker.
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These Montage Fast-Drying Bath Towels put an end to your damp and musty towel woes for good, and a set of two is on sale for just $62—over 30 percent off.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'woe.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use of woe
before 12th century
woe Synonyms
Synonyms
affliction, anguish, dolefulness, dolor, grief, heartache, heartbreak, sorrow;
Antonyms
bliss, blissfulness, cheer, cheerfulness, cheeriness, delight, ecstasy, elatedness, elation, euphoria, exhilaration, exuberance, exultation, gladness, gladsomeness, glee, gleefulness, happiness, joy, joyfulness, joyousness, jubilation, pleasure, rapture, rapturousness;
Near Antonyms
gaiety (also gayety), humor, jollity, joviality, lightheartedness, merriment, merrymaking, mirth, mirthfulness;
Related Words
agony, distress, pain, suffering, torment;
blues, dejection, depression, desolateness, desolation, despair, despondency, disconsolateness, dispiritedness, distress, doldrums, downheartedness, dreariness, dumps, forlornness, gloom, gloominess, glumness, heartsickness, joylessness, melancholy, miserableness, misery, mopes, oppression, sorrowfulness, unhappiness, woefulness, wretchedness;
contrition, guilt, regret, remorse, rue, self-reproach, shame;
Synonym Discussion of woe
sorrow, grief, anguish, woe, regret mean distress of mind. sorrow implies a sense of loss or a sense of guilt and remorse.
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- a family united in sorrow upon the patriarch's death
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- the inexpressible grief of the bereaved parents
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- the anguish felt by the parents of the kidnapped child
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- cries of woe echoed throughout the bombed city
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- nagging regret for missed opportunities
WOE Defined for English Language Learners
woe
Definition of woe for English Language Learners
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: a feeling of great pain or sadness
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woes : problems or troubles
WOE Defined for Kids
Learn More about woe
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See words that rhyme with woe Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for woe Spanish Central: Translation of woe Nglish: Translation of woe for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of woe for Arabic speakers
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