Adjacent Words

woe definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: misery resulting from affliction [syn: suffering, woe]
2: intense mournfulness [syn: woe, woefulness]

Merriam Webster's

I. interjection Etymology: Middle English wa, wo, from Old English w?; akin to Old Norse vei, interjection, woe, Latin vae Date: before 12th century — used to express grief, regret, or distress II. noun Date: before 12th century 1. a condition of deep suffering from misfortune, affliction, or grief 2. ruinous trouble ; calamity, affliction <economic woes> Synonyms: see sorrow

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. archaic or literary 1 affliction; bitter grief; distress. 2 (in pl.) calamities, troubles. 3 joc. problems (told me a tale of woe). Phrases and idioms: woe betide there will be unfortunate consequences for (woe betide you if you are late). woe is me an exclamation of distress. Etymology: OE wa, wæ f. Gmc, a natural exclam. of lament

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Woe Woe, n. [OE. wo, wa, woo, AS. w[=a], interj.; akin to D. wee, OS. & OHG. w[=e], G. weh, Icel. vei, Dan. vee, Sw. ve, Goth. wai; cf. L. vae, Gr. ?. [root]128. Cf. Wail.] [Formerly written also wo.] 1. Grief; sorrow; misery; heavy calamity. Thus saying, from her side the fatal key, Sad instrument of all our woe, she took. --Milton. [They] weep each other's woe. --Pope. 2. A curse; a malediction. Can there be a woe or curse in all the stores of vengeance equal to the malignity of such a practice? --South. Note: Woe is used in denunciation, and in exclamations of sorrow. `` Woe is me! for I am undone.'' --Isa. vi. 5. O! woe were us alive [i.e., in life]. --Chaucer. Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! --Isa. xlv. 9. Woe worth, Woe be to. See Worth, v. i. Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day, That costs thy life, my gallant gray! --Sir W. Scott.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Woe Woe, a. Woeful; sorrowful. [Obs.] His clerk was woe to do that deed. --Robert of Brunne. Woe was this knight and sorrowfully he sighed. --Chaucer. And looking up he waxed wondrous woe. --Spenser.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(woes) 1. Woe is very great sadness. (LITERARY) He listened to my tale of woe... ? joy 2. You can refer to someone's problems as their woes. (WRITTEN) He did not tell his relatives and friends about his woes. N-PLURAL: usu with poss 3. woe betide: see betide

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Sorrow, grief, distress, tribulation, affliction, anguish, agony, torture, bitterness, misery, wretchedness, unhappiness, trouble, dole, disconsolateness, melancholy, depression, heart-ache, heavy heart, bleeding heart, broken heart, mental suffering, pain of mind.

Moby Thesaurus

abomination, aching heart, affliction, agony, agony of mind, anguish, atrocity, bad, bale, bane, befoulment, bemoaning, bewailing, bitter cup, bitter draft, bitter draught, bitter pill, bitterness, bleeding heart, blight, broken heart, bugbear, burden, burden of care, calamity, cankerworm of care, care, carking care, cataclysm, catastrophe, corruption, cross, crown of thorns, crushing, crushing burden, crying evil, curse, damage, death, defilement, depression, depth of misery, desolation, despair, despoliation, destruction, detriment, disease, distress, dole, encumbrance, evil, extremity, gall, gall and wormwood, grief, grievance, harm, havoc, heartache, heartbreak, heartfelt grief, heartgrief, heavy heart, hurt, ill, infection, infelicity, infliction, injury, lamentation, languishment, load, melancholia, melancholy, misadventure, mischief, misery, nemesis, open wound, oppression, outrage, pack of troubles, peck of troubles, pest, pestilence, pining, plague, poison, pollution, prostration, regret, rue, running sore, sadness, scourge, sea of troubles, sorrow, sorrowing, suicidal despair, the worst, thorn, torment, toxin, tragedy, trouble, unhappiness, venom, vexation, visitation, waters of bitterness, weight, wretchedness, wrong