English · Word Candidate

regret

/ɹɪˈɡɹɛt/

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Also seen as: regrets · regretting · regretted

Sense 1

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

To feel sorry about (a thing that has or has not happened), afterthink: to wish that a thing had not happened, that something else had happened instead.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Cảm thấy tiếc về điều đã hoặc chưa xảy ra

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Verb

Examples

He regretted his words.

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).

Sense 2

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

To feel sorry about (any thing).

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Cảm thấy tiếc về điều gì đó

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Verb

Examples

I regret that I have to do this, but I don't have a choice.

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).

Sense 3

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Emotional pain on account of something done or experienced in the past, with a wish that it had been different; a looking back with dissatisfaction or with longing.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Đau khổ về việc đã làm hoặc trải qua trong quá khứ

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Noun

Examples

What man does not remember with regret the first time he read Robinson Crusoe?

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).

Sense 4

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

The amount of avoidable loss that results from choosing the wrong action.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Lượng tổn thất không thể tránh khỏi từ việc chọn hành động sai

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Noun

Examples

Under squared errorloss we show that there exists unique minimax regret solution for the problem of selecting the threshold.

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).

Common questions

What does “regret” mean?

To feel sorry about (a thing that has or has not happened), afterthink: to wish that a thing had not happened, that something else had happened instead.

Is “regret” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.