Library / English Dictionary

SORROW

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Something that causes great unhappiness

Example:

her death was a great grief to John

Synonyms:

grief; sorrow

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("sorrow" is a kind of...):

negative stimulus (a stimulus with undesirable consequences)

Derivation:

sorrow (feel grief)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An emotion of great sadness associated with loss or bereavement

Example:

he tried to express his sorrow at her loss

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Hypernyms ("sorrow" is a kind of...):

sadness; unhappiness (emotions experienced when not in a state of well-being)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sorrow"):

broken heart (devastating sorrow and despair)

brokenheartedness; grief; heartache; heartbreak (intense sorrow caused by loss of a loved one (especially by death))

mournfulness; ruthfulness; sorrowfulness (a state of gloomy sorrow)

self-pity (a feeling of sorrow (often self-indulgent) over your own sufferings)

Antonym:

joy (the emotion of great happiness)

Derivation:

sorrow (feel grief)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Sadness associated with some wrong done or some disappointment

Example:

to his rue, the error cost him the game

Synonyms:

regret; rue; ruefulness; sorrow

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Hypernyms ("sorrow" is a kind of...):

sadness; unhappiness (emotions experienced when not in a state of well-being)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sorrow"):

attrition; contriteness; contrition (sorrow for sin arising from fear of damnation)

compunction; remorse; self-reproach (a feeling of deep regret (usually for some misdeed))

Derivation:

sorrow (feel grief)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The state of being sad

Example:

she tired of his perpetual sadness

Synonyms:

sadness; sorrow; sorrowfulness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("sorrow" is a kind of...):

unhappiness (state characterized by emotions ranging from mild discontentment to deep grief)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sorrow"):

bereavement; mourning (state of sorrow over the death or departure of a loved one)

poignance; poignancy (a state of deeply felt distress or sorrow)

Derivation:

sorrow (feel grief)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Feel grief

Synonyms:

grieve; sorrow

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "sorrow" is one way to...):

suffer (experience (emotional) pain)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sorrow"):

mourn (feel sadness)

compassionate; condole with; feel for; pity; sympathize with (share the suffering of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence examples:

Sam and Sue sorrow

Sam and Sue sorrow over the results of the experiment

Derivation:

sorrow (something that causes great unhappiness)

sorrow (an emotion of great sadness associated with loss or bereavement)

sorrow (sadness associated with some wrong done or some disappointment)

sorrow (the state of being sad)

sorrower (a person who is feeling grief (as grieving over someone who has died))

Credits

 Context examples: 

We have learned the truth in sorrow and in suffering.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

What can I say that will enable you to understand the depth of my sorrow?

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

I must struggle through my sorrows and difficulties as I can.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

The whole district was in sorrow and dismay because of them, and yet no one could do anything to stop this.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

“And sorrows also,” quoth the other.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

God forgive me, how my heart bounded for joy, when hers, which was within touch of it, was breaking with sorrow!

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was the second death I had known, and the sorrow of the first was still fresh in my heart.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

“Rest be blanked,” said Hal, with his beardless lips; and Mercedes said, “Oh!” in pain and sorrow at the oath.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

I need not say that he was loathed and avoided by every one of his neighbours, and that I have not heard one single word of sorrow about his terrible end.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She went away weeping audibly, and he felt a pang of sorrow shoot through him at sight of her heavy body and uncouth gait.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)