WOE DEFINITIONS - 12 definitions found
woe n 1: misery resulting from affliction [syn: suffering, woe] 2: intense mournfulness [syn: woe, woefulness] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (2003) woe I. interjection Etymology: Middle English wa, wo, from Old English wā; 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 English Reference Dictionary
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner\'s English Dictionary woe (woes) 1. Woe is very great sadness. (LITERARY) He listened to my tale of woe... ≠ joy N-UNCOUNT 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 English Explanatory Dictionary woe wəu n. archaic or literary 1 affliction; bitter grief; distress. 2 (in pl.) calamities, troubles. 3 joc. problems (told me a tale of woe). øwoe betide there will be unfortunate consequences for (woe betide you if you are late). woe is me an exclamation of distress. [OE wa, wó f. Gmc, a natural exclam. of lament] English-Old English dictionary woe Handy Dictionary of Poetical Quotations Woe But I have that within which passeth show; These but the trappings and the suits of woe. SHAKESPEARE: Hamlet, Act i., Sc. 1. Woes cluster; rare are solitary woes; They love a train, they tread each other's heel. YOUNG: Night Thoughts, Night iii., Line 63. Chords that vibrate sweetest pleasure Thrill the deepest notes of woe. BURNS: Sweet Sensibility. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 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 Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 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. Soule\'s Dictionary of English Synonyms woe 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. English Explanatory Dictionary (Synonyms) woe wəu n. trouble, hardship, adversity, misery, anguish, tribulation, calamity, trial, wretchedness, grief, unhappiness, desolation, dolour, melancholy, gloom, depression, sadness, disconsolateness, misfortune, affliction, sorrow, distress: How much more woe could beset one small family? Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 114 Moby Thesaurus words for "woe": 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 |
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