sorry

/ˈsɔri/

/ˈsɒri/

Other forms: sorrier; sorriest; sorrily

To be sorry is to feel regret or feel bad about something — usually something you did. "I'm sorry" is an apology.

If you're feeling sorry about something, then you're feeling a combination of sadness and regret. You can be sorry for things you did, and you can also be sorry for bad things that happen to other people that don't involve you. At a funeral, people say "I'm sorry for your loss." The word sorry can also be used as an adjective to mean shoddy or crappy, as in "That is one sorry excuse!"

Definitions of sorry

1. adjective

   feeling or expressing regret or sorrow or a sense of loss over something done or undone
   synonyms: bad, regretful

   penitent, repentant

   feeling or expressing remorse for misdeeds
2. adjective

   without merit
   “a sorry horse”

   “a sorry excuse”

   synonyms: good-for-naught, good-for-nothing, meritless, no-account, no-count, no-good

   worthless

   lacking in usefulness or value
3. adjective

   bad; unfortunate
   “a sorry state of affairs”

   synonyms: deplorable, distressing, lamentable, pitiful, sad

   bad

   having undesirable or negative qualities
4. adjective

   causing dejection
   synonyms: blue, dark, dingy, disconsolate, dismal, drab, drear, dreary, gloomy, grim

   cheerless, depressing, uncheerful

   causing sad feelings of gloom and inadequacy