regret

{{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}}

noun

ADJECTIVE

▪ big, bitter, deep, genuine, great, profound, real, sincere

▪

Her biggest regret was that she had never had children.

▪

She expressed deep regret at the incident.

… OF REGRET

▪ pang, stab, tinge (esp. BrE), twinge (esp. AmE)

VERB + REGRET

▪ feel, have

▪

I have absolutely no regrets about resigning.

▪ express, show

▪ send

▪

He sends his regrets about missing our 45th reunion.

PREPOSITION

▪ to your regret

▪

To my regret, I lost touch with her years ago.

▪ with regret

▪

It is with deep regret that we announce the death of Mr Fred Fisher.

▪ without regret

▪

She thought of them without regret.

▪ regret about, regret over

▪

She showed no regret about leaving her country.

▪ regret at

▪

my sincere regret at what has happened

▪ regret for

▪

She enjoyed living alone, but felt a tiny pang of regret for her mother's cooking.

PHRASES

▪ expression of regret

▪

The police offered no expression of regret at his wrongful arrest.

▪ a matter for regret (BrE), a matter of regret (esp. BrE)

▪

I never learned to play an instrument and that's a matter of some regret. (BrE)

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verb

ADVERB

▪ bitterly, deeply, greatly, really, seriously, sincerely, truly, very much

▪

The president said that his country deeply regretted the incident.

▪ rather

▪ immediately, instantly

▪

I immediately regretted not asking for his name and address.

▪ quickly, soon

▪

It was a decision she would soon regret.

▪ later

▪

Pierre told them some things he later regretted telling.

▪ never

VERB + REGRET

▪ begin to

▪ come to, grow to, live to

▪

She knew that she would live to regret this decision.

▪ seem to

Regret is used with these nouns as the object: ↑choice, ↑decision, ↑error, ↑fact, ↑incident, ↑inconvenience, ↑indiscretion, ↑loss, ↑mistake, ↑word