as in boo
used to express sorrow or distress
ah, woe, with the death of the last of my siblings I am alone in this world!
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in distress
a state of great suffering of body or mind
a tale of misery and woe
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sorrow
deep sadness especially for the loss of someone or something loved
the incessant woe that has haunted her since the death of her husband
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of woe
Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2025
There has been much hand-wringing over the size of the welfare bill, which — given the U.K.’s economic woes and the demographics — is clearly unsustainable.
—Roger Trapp, Forbes.com, 30 Mar. 2025
To help cure her woes and feel more connected to the world, Lucia starts driving a taxi.
—Erik Piepenburg, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2025
The Studio stars Seth Rogen as a rising Hollywood executive struggling to juggle creative and financial woes.
—Randall Colburn, EW.com, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for woe
Noun
Tariff woes have pushed Japan's blue-chip Nikkei stock index to its lowest since September.N225, and taken the edge off a stunning rally in European stocks .STOXX.
—Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2025
There has been much hand-wringing over the size of the welfare bill, which — given the U.K.’s economic woes and the demographics — is clearly unsustainable.
—Roger Trapp, Forbes.com, 30 Mar. 2025
To help cure her woes and feel more connected to the world, Lucia starts driving a taxi.
—Erik Piepenburg, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2025
The Studio stars Seth Rogen as a rising Hollywood executive struggling to juggle creative and financial woes.
—Randall Colburn, EW.com, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for woe
Recent Examples of Synonyms for woe
Interjection
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Highlights include a costume parade (for kids and parents), a Purim story and boo Haman and songs.—
Linda McIntosh,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
15 Mar. 2024
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Volunteer yourself to help with X, Y and Z accommodations if that lightens the family’s workload, without saying boo about the couple’s choices.—
Carolyn Hax,
Washington Post,
18 Jan. 2024
Noun
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At the Santa Monica test location after the rains, the level of beryllium — a metal that is toxic to fish and corals and causes respiratory distress in humans — was more than 10 times the maximum limit allowed.—
Corinne Purtill,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Mar. 2025
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The result: Some doctors and hospitals have held back on treatments, waiting for the fetal heartbeat to stop or for patients to wind up in undeniable distress.—
Kavitha Surana,
ProPublica,
27 Mar. 2025
Noun
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His eyes filled with sorrow as his mom gave Lola all the attention.—
John W. Dean,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Apr. 2025
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Emotions and sorrow were palpable even though Prine has been dead for nearly five years.—
Rick Kogan,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Apr. 2025
Noun
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His experiences at Fuchu Prison left him with frostbite, screaming in agony, after being exposed to sub-zero temperatures during 20 days in solitary confinement.—
Daniel Taylor,
New York Times,
12 Apr. 2025
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What began as a blissful afternoon in the Florida sun ended in agony when a Jeep Wrangler suddenly barreled over a man lying on the beach, police said.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
9 Apr. 2025
Noun
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In the episode, Duran describes his mental anguish during that time and some of the steps he’s taken since then to improve his mental health.—
Jen McCaffrey,
New York Times,
7 Apr. 2025
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And all of that anguish of going through that process of retrying to develop my body in a way that will never be the same anyway.—
Outside Online,
Outside Online,
26 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Life was good, especially after the last three seasons of misery, when games at this time of year were meaningless aside from their impact on the draft lottery.—
Arpon Basu,
New York Times,
12 Apr. 2025
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For civilians, the unrelenting misery of the last 18 months has just got a lot worse – especially as no aid has entered Gaza for six weeks.—
Tim Lister and Oren Liebermann,
CNN Money,
12 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Although there are many layers to a layoff, including the emotions of grief, shock and purpose since our jobs are often inextricably linked to our identities, this column focuses on the legal aspects from experts.—
Vicki Salemi,
Boston Herald,
23 Mar. 2025
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Their grief and their rage are nearly untranslatable, as though feelings in extremity can only be physical sensations—the language assails one with a blind and blunt force.—
Yiyun Li,
The New Yorker,
23 Mar. 2025
Interjection
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Studies of fathers have generated some alarmist headlines over the years, and Hrdy has kindly collated them: no dad joke: fatherhood shrinks the brain; aw, nuts!—
Dan Piepenbring,
Harper's Magazine,
30 Mar. 2024
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And then … aw, just cue up the video player for the epic Francisco Lindor homer that won this thing!—
Jayson Stark,
The Athletic,
27 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Woe.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/woe. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
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