woe

C2+ Topic:Emotions & Feelings

US /woʊ/ UK /wəʊ/ See IPA manual

Homophones

whoa /woʊ/

Meanings

1

noun
great sorrow or distress, or a cause of such grief

She poured out her tale of woe to anyone who would listen.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · great sorrow or distress,... sorrow grief misery anguish distress affliction tribulation

Opposites

joy happiness delight bliss

Word family

Derived forms woefulwoebegone

Related forms woeful

Appears in

Proverbs (1)

See all

Woe to the vanquished

Simplified etymology

Woe is an ancient exclamation of unhappiness or distress found in Old English, with similar forms in Latin, Greek, and other early languages. Its widespread form probably reflects its origin as a natural cry of sorrow.

Etymology

From Old English wā, wǣ, originally an exclamation of grief, of imitative/interjectional origin, common to many Indo-European languages (compare Latin vae, German weh).

wā Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Emotions & Feelings

External links

# woe

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /woʊ/
**IPA (UK):** /wəʊ/

## Meanings
1. great sorrow or distress, or a cause of such grief

## Examples
- She poured out her tale of woe to anyone who would listen.

## Synonyms
- sorrow
- grief
- misery
- anguish
- distress
- affliction
- tribulation

## Antonyms
- joy
- happiness
- delight
- bliss

## Derived Forms
- woeful
- woebegone

## Related Forms
- woeful

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: wā

## Etymology
From Old English wā, wǣ, originally an exclamation of grief, of imitative/interjectional origin, common to many Indo-European languages (compare Latin vae, German weh).

## AI Etymology
Woe comes from Old English wā, wǣ, originally an exclamation of grief, of imitative/interjectional origin, common to many Indo-European languages (compare Latin vae, German weh). In current use it is a noun and intj meaning "great sorrow or distress, or a cause of such grief". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The history is mainly one of transmission into English, with the older form and sense carried through borrowing or adaptation. A central historical form is Old English wā. Related English forms include woeful. Derived forms include woeful and woebegone. For dictionary purposes, the important point is the continuity between the older form, the route into English, and the present lexical sense.

## Topics
- Emotions & Feelings

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woe