sorriness
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English sorinesse, from Old English sāriġness, from Proto-West Germanic *sairaganassī, *sairīganassī; equivalent to sorry + -ness. Cognate with West Frisian searigens (“soreness, tenderness”).
Noun[edit]
sorriness (uncountable)
- The state or quality of being sorry; regret.
- Worthlessness; wretchedness.
- 1967, Shields McIlwaine, The Southern Poor-white from Lubberland to Tobacco Road:
- His friend, Mr. Smith, thought that "a sorry farmer on a sorry farm is a sorry sight." Bill hardly attained that level of sorriness.
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms suffixed with -ness
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English terms with quotations