regrettable

C2+ Topic:Cause, Change & Process

US /rɪˈɡrɛtəbəl/ UK /rɪˈɡrɛtəbəl/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
giving cause for regret; unfortunate

His outburst was a regrettable lapse in an otherwise calm meeting.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · giving cause for regret;... unfortunate lamentable deplorable unhappy woeful disappointing

Opposites

fortunate welcome desirable

Word family

Derived forms regrettablyregrettableness

Related forms regret regretful regretting

Etymology

From regret + -able. Regret is from Old French regreter ('to bewail, lament'), of uncertain origin, possibly from re- + a Germanic root related to Old Norse grāta ('to weep').

regreter Old French

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Topics

Cause, Change & Process Word Formation & Derivatives

# regrettable

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** rɪˈɡrɛtəbəl
**IPA (UK):** rɪˈɡrɛtəbəl

## Meanings
1. giving cause for regret; unfortunate

## Examples
- His outburst was a regrettable lapse in an otherwise calm meeting.

## Synonyms
- unfortunate
- lamentable
- deplorable
- unhappy
- woeful
- disappointing

## Antonyms
- fortunate
- welcome
- desirable

## Derived Forms
- regrettably
- regrettableness

## Related Forms
- regret
- regretful
- regretting

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: regreter

## Etymology
From regret + -able. Regret is from Old French regreter ('to bewail, lament'), of uncertain origin, possibly from re- + a Germanic root related to Old Norse grāta ('to weep').

## AI Etymology
Regrettable comes from regret + -able. Regret is from Old French regreter ('to bewail, lament'), of uncertain origin, possibly from re- + a Germanic root related to Old Norse grāta ('to weep'). The historical chain includes Old French regreter. Older glosses in the chain include "to bewail, lament" and "to weep", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, regrettable is best read as compound, suffixal formation, borrowing, and uncertain formation, yielding an English adjective shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as an adjective, with the sense "giving cause for regret; unfortunate". English derivatives include regrettably and regrettableness; related forms include regret, regretful, and regretting. The result is an English adjective whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Cause, Change & Process
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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regrettable

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