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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Iron Man was laden with visual effects, sure, but unlike Speed Racer its hero felt grounded in the real world, a chrome-plated savior for more ordinary woes.
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Veteran defender Rafael Marquez was named Monday to Mexico's preliminary 28-player squad for the World Cup, despite his advancing years and legal woes in a US drug trafficking investigation.
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Sure, maybe baseball’s annual $4 million average salary will be enough of a deterrent to prevent players from being tempted to go to the dark side, but money woes can make people do some crazy things.
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As Phil Willon writes in a fact check, while Villaraigosa certainly made some fiscal mistakes as mayor, blaming him for L.A.'s financial woes during the greatest economic downtown since the Great Depression is misleading.
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Beasley, the head of the United Nations' program, says a peace agreement with North Korea will go far toward easing the impoverished nation's chronic food security woes.
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Many [ways to nudge countries into policy reforms] have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe.
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Environmentalists, Delta landowners and Northern California officials say the project would actually worsen the estuary's woes.
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The Bible says woe unto those who love the tombs of the prophets.
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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