Regretful is an English word with synonyms like sorry or bad. Below you'll find 10+ example sentences showing how it's used in practice.
Regretful meaning
- Full of feelings of regret, indulging in regrets.
- Sorrowful about what has been lost or done.
Using Regretful
- The main meaning on this page is: Full of feelings of regret, indulging in regrets. | Sorrowful about what has been lost or done.
- Useful related words include: sorry, bad, penitent, repentant.
- In the example corpus, regretful often appears in combinations such as: regretful and, was regretful, be regretful.
Context around Regretful
- Average sentence length in these examples: 22 words
- Position in the sentence: 2 start, 11 middle, 7 end
- Sentence types: 19 statements, 1 questions, 0 exclamations
Corpus analysis for Regretful
- In this selection, "regretful" usually appears in the middle of the sentence. The average example has 22 words, and this corpus slice is mostly made up of statements.
- Around the word, deeply, looking, seemed, decision, response and information stand out and add context to how "regretful" is used.
- Recognizable usage signals include a regretful benjamin said and after a regretful decision. That gives this page its own corpus information beyond isolated example sentences.
- By corpus frequency, "regretful" sits close to words such as abdollahian, abergavenny and abounded, which helps place it inside the broader word index.
Example types with regretful
The same corpus examples are grouped by length and sentence type, making it easier to see the contexts in which the word appears:
Are you a regretful Democrat? (5 words)
Selling now could prove to be a regretful decision. (9 words)
Defence solicitor Shona Westwood said: “He’s regretful of what happened. (11 words)
He also took the opportunity to praise the local council for their work in preventing the virus from affecting the town and he is ‘deeply regretful’ that his actions have undone the tireless work of the rest of his colleagues. (40 words)
Performing at his mature finest, Banderas moves up and down the emotional register from mournful to puckish to regretful to freshly hopeful with a restraint that dials down Almodóvar's breathy melodrama almost to straight realism. (36 words)
A regretful Benjamin said what his wife and her church elders did to him was like kidnapping a drunk man from a bar and making him read to them aloud from the Bible. (33 words)
Are you a regretful Democrat? (5 words)
Example sentences (20)
Haj Ali Akbari further said "Islamic governments must have a regretful response.
He said ‘Japa syndrome’ should not be celebrated at all, saying many people who had done so were regretful and would not tell their families the truth.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, school officials apologized again for hosting Arraf and said they were “deeply regretful” for the negative impact caused to the community by the assembly.
Selling now could prove to be a regretful decision.
The organization said it would be regretful for any state to reject the course.
William left but later returned "looking regretful" and apologised, according to article, quoting the book.
Defence lawyer Adam Scott said his client had slid back into addiction and is ashamed and regretful about the offence.
Defence solicitor Shona Westwood said: “He’s regretful of what happened.
On Friday afternoon, the head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service said it was "regretful" information that is of importance to bereaved families was deleted.
Over a decade later, though, Buck seemed regretful over his words.
Ahmad al-Sahhaf said at least 16 Iraqis were also injured in what he described as a “regretful” traffic accident, and not a militant attack.
And let’s not forget Kirk himself — the aging iteration from the 1980s movies that Shatner shepherded into someone who was more introspective, sometimes regretful and more willing to listen.
A regretful Benjamin said what his wife and her church elders did to him was like kidnapping a drunk man from a bar and making him read to them aloud from the Bible.
He also took the opportunity to praise the local council for their work in preventing the virus from affecting the town and he is ‘deeply regretful’ that his actions have undone the tireless work of the rest of his colleagues.
He described finding Bing in his bed with the curtains drawn and 'feeling regretful', after several days of drug use and managed to talk him around.
His most inspiring trait was his decision to turn to his faith in God and receive God’s mercy and to be a better man after a regretful decision.
Skarsgård’s quiet, almost regretful, delivery of “My sincere apologies to the housekeeper” when he steps off the elevator is a chilling denouement to a scene of grotesque violence.
His body had betrayed him and the end was a regretful one.
Performing at his mature finest, Banderas moves up and down the emotional register from mournful to puckish to regretful to freshly hopeful with a restraint that dials down Almodóvar's breathy melodrama almost to straight realism.
Are you a regretful Democrat?
Common combinations with regretful
These word pairs occur most frequently in English texts:
- regretful and 5×
- was regretful 4×
- be regretful 3×
- regretful decision 3×
- deeply regretful 2×
- regretful for 2×
- and regretful 2×
- regretful of 2×
- regretful that 2×
- regretful but 2×