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woe

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noun

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Synonym Chooser

How is the word woe different from other nouns like it?

Some common synonyms of woe are anguish, grief, regret, and sorrow. While all these words mean "distress of mind," woe is deep or inconsolable grief or misery.

cries of woe echoed throughout the bombed city

When is it sensible to use anguish instead of woe?

The meanings of anguish and woe largely overlap; however, anguish suggests torturing grief or dread.

the anguish felt by the parents of the kidnapped child

When is grief a more appropriate choice than woe?

The words grief and woe can be used in similar contexts, but grief implies poignant sorrow for an immediate cause.

the inexpressible grief of the bereaved parents

Where would regret be a reasonable alternative to woe?

While the synonyms regret and woe are close in meaning, regret implies pain caused by deep disappointment, fruitless longing, or unavailing remorse.

nagging regret for missed opportunities

When can sorrow be used instead of woe?

While in some cases nearly identical to woe, sorrow implies a sense of loss or a sense of guilt and remorse.

a family united in sorrow upon the patriarch's death

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of woe
Noun
And yes, all of the women — including Bronwyn, who’s arriving late but will still be attending despite all of the rumors and headlines about her old legal woes. Tom Smyth, Vulture, 29 Oct. 2025 Frisch’s reorganized amid its financial woes, but court records show NRD founder and managing partner Aziz Hashim is still the president and chairman of Frisch’s. Alexander Coolidge, Cincinnati Enquirer, 28 Oct. 2025 The budget woes are stirring concern among the regulars. Panashe Matemba-Mutasa, Mercury News, 27 Oct. 2025 Additionally, adding Alonso could also help solve the Phillies' outfield woes. Aaliyan Mohammed, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for woe
Recent Examples of Synonyms for woe
Noun
  • Appearing in court on Monday, Barton pleaded not guilty to 12 charges of sending a grossly offensive communication with the intention of causing distress or anxiety.
    Greg O'Keeffe, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2025
  • The family is seeking damages for negligence and emotional distress.
    Real-Time News team, Miami Herald, 3 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • The marvel of this verse is in its vulnerability in expressing sorrow, lost love and despair—under the seams runs the pain.
    Amber McBride, Literary Hub, 5 Nov. 2025
  • Among the recurrent themes are suicide, mysteriously intractable sorrow, and failed attempts at familial and romantic connection.
    Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • Following months of agony and fundraising, Abeba was eventually able to send enough money to pay for her brother Daniel’s release.
    Mick Krever, CNN Money, 6 Nov. 2025
  • Near those boundaries, microscopic changes in pace or line flip the result, explaining why near-identical putts can alternate between agony and ecstasy.
    Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • The towering performance has generated major Oscar buzz since the film’s premiere at Telluride, where audiences were visibly shaken — and deeply moved — by Buckley’s portrayal of a mother’s anguish.
    Clayton Davis, Variety, 31 Oct. 2025
  • The lawsuit, filed by Morgan & Morgan, says the woman lost consciousness and suffered permanent bodily injury, mental anguish, and more in the incident on the Mako coaster on March 24.
    Eve Chen, USA Today, 30 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Springsteen grew up alongside rock’n’roll, absorbing its origin story and waiting for the day when his ability to write a killer riff would transport him from the misery of living with a father who didn’t understand him, shut off from a world that promised so much but gave so little.
    Sadie Sartini Garner, Pitchfork, 24 Oct. 2025
  • Whether the Monster is part of Ana’s imagination or not, the scene carries a fragile, haunting power, suggesting that the only person capable of rescuing Ana from the pervasive mystery and misery of her home life belongs to the supernatural, outside the punishing borders of Franco’s Spain.
    Rory Doherty, Vulture, 20 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Added to the trauma of grief and sudden eviction under threat of reprisal, Adelaida has to endure seeing the sacred mementos of her mother’s life trashed by the thuggish new squatters.
    Jessica Kiang, Variety, 31 Oct. 2025
  • The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015) Moody and intricate (sometimes maddeningly so), this debut from Oz Perkins (son of Psycho star Anthony) inflicts supernatural horror and grief upon the students of a Catholic boarding school.
    Dennis Perkins, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Oct. 2025
Interjection
  • In the north of the British Isles, people sometimes combined ye, a second person plural pronoun for you, along with aw, meaning all.
    Bill Chappell, NPR, 16 July 2025
  • And then … aw, just cue up the video player for the epic Francisco Lindor homer that won this thing!
    Jayson Stark, The Athletic, 27 Dec. 2024
Noun
  • Ergofoot Orthopedic Slippers For those on my holiday list who have more sensitive and pain-prone feet, this orthopedic pair stands out from the crowd.
    Izzy Baskette, PEOPLE, 26 Oct. 2025
  • According to my friends from STATS Perform, only six other relief pitchers in World Series history can share his pain.
    Jayson Stark, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Woe.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/woe. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.

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