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.)
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".
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