Regretted

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ɹɪˈɡɹɛtɪd/

Definitions

1. To have felt sorrowful about choices made or actions taken, often wishing for a different outcome or feeling remorse over results
2. To have recognized the negative impact of past decisions and desired a different course of action or result
3. To have experienced a sense of disappointment regarding decisions or actions taken, often accompanied by a wish to change the past or avoid certain outcomes

Etymology: The verb "regret" is a genuinely surprising survivor: its ancestor meant to weep out loud. Old French "regreter" meant "to lament," built from the intensive prefix "re-" and a Frankish root tied to the Germanic idea of crying and mourning. The sense of wailing for the dead was stronger than the sense of private remorse that dominates the word today, and English borrowed the verb in the Middle Ages as "regretten" with that mournful flavour intact. The English sense drifted from public grief toward personal sorrow over something lost or done. A person once regretted a dead friend in the way we might now mourn them; over time the word narrowed to the inner ache of wishing things had gone differently. The past form "regretted" simply carries that meaning, here used for feeling sorry about something.

Synonyms: lamented, repented

Antonyms: celebrated, approved