regrettable

English

Etymology

From regret +‎ -able.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛtəbəl

Adjective

regrettable (comparative more regrettable, superlative most regrettable)

1. Able to be regretted, especially deserving of regret.

   Synonyms: deplorable, pitiful; see also Thesaurus:lamentable

   The officers' actions were regrettable, yes, but there's nothing to be done now but to relocate everyone to the mainland in a calm and orderly manner.

   • 1991 May 12, “Kidnapped!”, in Jeeves and Wooster, Series 2, Episode 5:

     Jeeves: Foreign travel often liberates emotions best kept in check, sir. The air of North America is notoriously stimulating in this regard, as witness the regrettable behavior of its inhabitants in 1776.
     B. Wooster: Hm? What happened in 1776, Jeeves?
     Jeeves: I prefer not to dwell on it, if it's convenient to you, sir.

   • 2019 October 4, Tiffany Hsu, “You Will Be Shocked by This Article”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN, archived from the original on 25 March 2020:

     And when they do, readers may find themselves on an unfamiliar website with an odd name, faced with a photo gallery of regrettable tattoos or a listicle on 22 celebrities with ugly spouses.

Derived terms

• regrettableness
• unregrettable

Related terms

• regret
• regretful
• regretfully
• regretfulness
• regrettably
• regretter

Translations

of an event, action, or state, allowing or deserving regret

Belarusian: сумны (sumny) Bulgarian: достоен за съжаление (dostoen za sǎžalenie) Catalan: lamentable Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Czech: politováníhodný (cs) Dutch: betreurenswaardig (nl) Finnish: harmillinen (fi) French: regrettable (fr) Georgian: დასანანი (dasanani) German: bedauerlich (de), bedauernswert (de) Greek: λυπηρός (el) (lypirós) Hungarian: sajnálatos (hu) Ido: regretinda (io) Italian: riprovevole (it), deplorevole (it), increscioso (it) m, deprecabile (it) Japanese: please add this translation if you can Khmer: គួរអាយសោកស្តាយ (kuəʼaaysaokstaay) Latin: paenitendus Plautdietsch: schod Polish: godny ubolewania, godny pożałowania Portuguese: lamentável (pt), deplorável (pt) Russian: прискорбный (ru) (priskorbnyj) Spanish: lamentable (es) Swedish: beklagansvärd (sv) Thai: น่าเสียใจ (nâa-sǐia-jai), น่าเสียดาย (nâa-sǐia-daai) Turkish: please add this translation if you can Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can Vietnamese: đáng tiếc, đáng ân hận

French

Etymology

From regretter +‎ -able.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tabl/ ~ /ʁə.ɡʁe.tabl/

Adjective

regrettable (plural regrettables)

1. unfortunate, regrettable

   Synonym: dommage

See also

• déplorable
• lamentable

Further reading

• “regrettable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.