Regrettable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Deserving of sorrow or disappointment due to being unfortunate, undesirable, or causing a negative outcome that one wishes had not occurred
2. Causing a sense of sorrow or disappointment due to an unfortunate outcome or an action one wishes they could change
3. Worthy of distress or regret because of its undesirable nature or the negative consequences that follow it

Etymology: Regret came into English from Old French "regreter", a word whose earliest ancestors are Frankish, not Latin. The Frankish "grātan" meant to weep or lament, and the French verb built on it combined that sense with the prefix "re-", giving something like "to weep again" over a loss. English borrowed the verb and later adopted "regret" as a noun for the feeling itself. Regrettable is a plain formation: the noun or verb "regret" with the suffix "-able", meaning "able to be" or "deserving to be". The suffix arrived through Old French from Latin "-ābilis", so a regrettable event is one deserving of regret. The sense has shifted subtly over time. A regrettable thing is now often something bad that happened, not something one feels deep grief over, which makes the word feel milder than its roots suggest.

Synonyms: unfortunate, deplorable, lamentable

Antonyms: fortunate, happy