English edit

Etymology edit

From Middle English sory, from Old English sāriġ (feeling or expressing grief, sorry, grieved, sorrowful, sad, mournful, bitter), from Proto-West Germanic *sairag, from Proto-Germanic *sairagaz (sad), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂yro (hard, rough, painful). Cognate with Scots sairie (sad, grieved), Saterland Frisian seerich (sore, inflamed), West Frisian searich (sad, sorry), Low German serig (sick, scabby), German dialectal sehrig (sore, sad, painful), Swedish sårig. Despite the similarity in form and meaning, not related to sorrow. Equivalent to sore + -y.

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

sorry (comparative sorrier, superlative sorriest)

  1. (of a person) Regretful or apologetic for one's actions.
    Synonyms: apologetic, compunctious, contrite, penitent, regretful, remorseful, repentant
    I am sorry I stepped on your toes. It was an accident.
  2. (of a person) Grieved or saddened, especially by the loss of something or someone.
    Synonyms: heavy-hearted, melancholy, mournful
    I am sorry for your loss.
    The President was sorry to hear that the Ambassador was leaving.
  3. Poor, pitifully sad or regrettable.
    The storm left his garden in a sorry state.
  4. Pathetic; contemptibly inadequate.
    Bob is a sorry excuse for a football player.
    • 2023 May 25, David Smith, “Failure to launch: Twitter glitches deal double blow to Elon Musk and Ron DeSantis”, in The Guardian[1], →ISSN:
      The sorry experience did little to suggest that Musk knows how to run a social media platform or that DeSantis is capable of governing a global superpower armed with nuclear weapons.

Derived terms edit

Translations edit

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Interjection edit

sorry

  1. Expresses regret, remorse, or sorrow.
    Synonym: (slang, chiefly Britain) soz
    Sorry! I didn't see that you were on the phone.
    Sorry about yesterday. — No worries.
  2. Used as a request for someone to repeat something not heard or understood clearly.
    Synonyms: I beg your pardon?, I'm sorry?, say again, come again, (US) excuse me?; see also Thesaurus:say again
    Sorry? What was that? The phone cut out.
  3. Used to correct oneself in speech.
    There are four– sorry, five branches of the store locally.
  4. Said as a request to pass somebody.
    Synonym: excuse me
    Sorry! Coming through!

Descendants edit

Translations edit

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Noun edit

sorry (plural sorries or sorrys)

  1. The act of saying sorry; an apology.
    • 2007, Christopher Levan, Give Us This Day: Lenten Reflections on Baking Bread and Discipleship, page 107:
      The British would do it standing stock still, Latinos would dance their sorries, and Canadians would find a way to apologize on ice.
    • 2008, Lucy S. Danziger, Self Magazine's 15 Minutes to Your Best Self:
      So learn how to tailor your sorries to the sexes. Women tend to want an acknowledgment of what they're going through...

Translations edit

Related terms edit

Further reading edit

Chinese edit

Etymology edit

From English sorry.

Pronunciation edit


  • Cantonese: IPA(key): /sɔ⁵⁵ ɹi²¹/, /sɔ⁵⁵ li²¹/, /sɔ⁵⁵ wi²¹/

Interjection edit

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, Singapore Hokkien, Penang Hokkien, colloquial) sorry

Synonyms edit

Czech edit

Etymology edit

Derived from English sorry.

Interjection edit

sorry

  1. (informal) sorry (I apologize)
    Synonym: See also pardon

Dutch edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from English sorry.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈsɔ.ri/
  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: sor‧ry

Interjection edit

sorry

  1. sorry (expressing regret)
    Je hebt me heel erg pijn gedaan toen je dat zei.Sorry, dat is nooit mijn bedoeling geweest.
    You really hurt me a lot when you said that. — Sorry, that was never my intention.
  2. sorry, pardon, excuse me
    Je stond op mijn voet!Oh, sorry!
    You were standing on my foot! — Oh, sorry!

Synonyms edit

Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

Descendants edit

German edit

Etymology edit

Unadapted borrowing from English sorry.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈzɔʁi/, /ˈsɔri/
  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: sor‧ry

Interjection edit

sorry

  1. (colloquial) sorry (expressing regret)
    Synonym: Entschuldigung
    • 2020 December 24, Bernd Ulrich, “Das Jahr, in dem die Normalität zu Ende ging”, in Die Zeit[2]:
      [] Armin Laschet und Olaf Scholz wollen vor allem die alte BRD bewahren und die Methode Merkel mit, sorry, schwächeren Mitteln prolongieren; []
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Further reading edit

  • sorry” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • sorry” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • sorry” in Duden online

Middle English edit

Etymology 1 edit

From Anglo-Norman soree.

Noun edit

sorry

  1. Alternative form of sorre

Etymology 2 edit

From Old English sāriġ.

Noun edit

sorry

  1. (Late ME) Alternative form of sory

Polish edit

Etymology edit

Unadapted borrowing from English sorry.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈsɔ.rɨ/
  • Rhymes: -ɔrɨ
  • Syllabification: so‧rry

Interjection edit

sorry

  1. (informal) sorry! (expressing regret)
    Synonym: przepraszam

Further reading edit

  • sorry in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Spanish edit

Etymology edit

Unadapted borrowing from English sorry.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈsori/ [ˈso.ri]
  • Rhymes: -ori
  • Syllabification: so‧rry

Interjection edit

sorry

  1. (informal) sorry (expressing regret)
    Synonym: perdón

Usage notes edit

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Swedish edit

Etymology edit

Unadapted borrowing from English sorry.

Interjection edit

sorry

  1. (informal, casual) sorry (expressing regret)
    Sorry, brevet låg i fel brevlåda. Råkade öppna.
    Sorry, the letter was in the wrong letter box. Opened by mistake.
    • 2024 January 12, Max Wiman, “Sorry, resten av Malmö – på Limhamn finns allt [Sorry, the rest of Malmö - Limhamn has everything]”, in Sydsvenskan:
      Det är svårt att sakna något här, så sorry resten av Malmö. Här finns allt.
      It's hard to miss something here, so sorry the rest of Malmö. Everything is here.

Usage notes edit

  • As with many English expressions in Swedish; the word sorry has much lower weight and meaning than its counterpart förlåt (sorry).

Synonyms edit

Anagrams edit

Yola edit

Etymology edit

From Middle English sory, from Old English sāriġ, from Proto-West Germanic *sairag.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

sorry

  1. sorrow

References edit

  • Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 69