regretful
adjective
re·gret·ful
ri-ˈgret-fəl 
: full of regret : feeling or expressing regret
feeling regretful
a regretful sigh/look
… and all that the three-year difference does is make us laugh and make us regretful about our own adolescences.—
Stanley Kauffmann
Stanley Kauffmann
regretfulness
noun
Even more than 40 years after Jones' death, Richards refuses to indulge in any false sentimentality or regretfulness.
—Greg Kot
Greg Kot
Synonyms
Examples of regretful in a Sentence
gave me a regretful look when I told him we had to move my mother to a nursing home
was truly regretful that she had yelled at him
Recent Examples on the Web
The regretful audio mixing feels oddly apiece with the film’s cheap DIY internet vibe, which may have seemed amateurish at the time of release but now feels like a window back into a simpler, crunchier time for LGBT cinema.
—Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 14 June 2024
And George's death was obviously regretful and the manner of it is not great.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 18 May 2024
Oh, and Homer winds up having a videotaped threesome with a pair of immediately regretful male demons.
—Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 24 Nov. 2023
Avoid spontaneous purchases or regretful decisions when the bills arrive.
—Eugenia Last, The Mercury News, 26 Feb. 2024
See all Example Sentences for regretful 
Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 14 June 2024
And George's death was obviously regretful and the manner of it is not great.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 18 May 2024
Oh, and Homer winds up having a videotaped threesome with a pair of immediately regretful male demons.
—Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 24 Nov. 2023
Avoid spontaneous purchases or regretful decisions when the bills arrive.
—Eugenia Last, The Mercury News, 26 Feb. 2024
See all Example Sentences for regretful
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'regretful.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Articles Related to regretful
Dictionary Entries Near regretful
Cite this Entry
“Regretful.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/regretful. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share