regretful

adjective

re·​gret·​ful ri-ˈgret-fəl 

: full of regret : feeling or expressing regret

feeling regretful

a regretful sigh/look

… and all that the three-year difference does is make us laugh and make us regretful about our own adolescences.

—Stanley Kauffmann

regretfulness noun

Even more than 40 years after Jones' death, Richards refuses to indulge in any false sentimentality or regretfulness.

—Greg Kot

Synonyms

• aching
• agonized
• anguished
• bemoaning
• bewailing
• bitter
• deploring
• doleful
• dolesome
• dolorous
• funeral
• grieving
• heartbroken
• lamentable
• lugubrious
• mournful
• plaintive
• plangent
• rueful
• sorrowful
• sorry
• wailing
• weeping
• woeful

Examples of regretful in a Sentence

gave me a regretful look when I told him we had to move my mother to a nursing home

was truly regretful that she had yelled at him

Recent Examples on the Web

Ma and Tsai give strong performances that cast the dynamic as one not of scorn but of regretful misunderstanding. —Lovia Gyarkye, HollywoodReporter, 15 May 2025

Checkout pages create friction to prevent regretful purchases. —Jason Snyder, Forbes, 3 Mar. 2025

Unfortunately the hardest part to this is not to live in a regretful state. —Mac Engel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 Feb. 2025

As expected, many regretful habits are attached to nighttime routines–when some productive distractions or extra comforts added to the process can at first feel like a godsend. —Devonne Goode, Parents, 24 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1647, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for regretful

• forgetful
• fretful