Regretfulness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The feeling of sorrow or remorse over something done or not done
2. A state of being sorry for past actions or decisions
3. An emotional response showing sadness about a mistake or missed opportunity

Etymology: "Regretfulness" is a plain English compound: the adjective "regretful" with the suffix "-ness" added to turn a quality into a noun. The adjective itself is built from "regret" and "-ful," so the word is a stack of three pieces rather than a single borrowing. The root "regret" came into English in the 1300s from Old French "regreter," which meant to lament or mourn someone who had died. That French verb was itself built on a Frankish word, "grātan," meaning to weep or cry out, linked to ancient Germanic words for crying and sorrow. The sense of sorrow, then, was present from the start; the later notion of wishing an action undone grew out of it. The suffix "-ful" was originally a full word meaning "full," so "regretful" literally described someone full of regret. Adding "-ness," an Old English suffix that turns adjectives into nouns of quality, produced "regretfulness" in English, a noun for the state of being full of sorrow over something past.

Synonyms: remorse, contrition, sorrow, sadness, penitence

Antonyms: indifference, contentment, satisfaction, happiness, joy