ENGLISH
REFERENCE

sorrow

n. · v.
US //ˈsɑɹoʊ// UK //sˈɒɹəʊ// sor·row
  1. 1 deep sadness (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    a very strong feeling of sadness or grief.

    a state of intense distress or unhappiness caused by loss, disappointment, or misfortune.

    Example

    He felt a great sense of sorrow after his old dog passed away.

    Example

    The community expressed deep sorrow following the news of the factory closure, which had been the town's primary employer for decades.
  2. 2 a cause of sadness (n.)
    C1 Advanced Literary

    a specific event or trouble that makes you feel sad.

    a specific cause or instance of grief or misfortune; frequently used in the plural form.

    Example

    She had experienced many sorrows in her long life, but she remained kind.

    Example

    The poet wrote extensively about the joys and sorrows of rural life, capturing the harsh realities of the changing seasons.
Show 1 more senseShow fewer
  1. 3 to feel grief (v.)
    C2 Proficiency Literary Formal

    to feel or show great sadness.

    to experience or express deep distress or regret; functions both transitively and intransitively.

    Example

    The whole nation sorrowed at the loss of their leader.

    Example

    They sorrowed over the missed opportunities of their youth, reflecting on paths not taken with a quiet, dignified regret.
Origin

From Middle English sorwe, sorow, sorewe, from Old English sorg, sorh (“care, anxiety, sorrow, grief”), from Proto-West Germanic sorgu, from Proto-Germanic surgō (compare West Frisian soarch, Dutch zorg, German Sorge, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian sorg), from Proto-Indo-European *swergʰ- (“watch over, worry; be ill, suffer”) (compare Old Irish serg (“sickness”), Tocharian B sark (“sickness”), Lithuanian sirgti (“be sick”), Sanskrit सूर्क्षति (sū́rkṣati, “worry”). Despite the similarity in form and meaning, not historically related to sorry and sore.

Word family

© 2026 English Reference