Regret vs Worry - What's the difference?
regret | worry |
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.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4
, passage=Judge Short had gone to town, and Farrar was off for a three days' cruise up the lake. I was bitterly regretting I had not gone with him when the distant notes of a coach horn reached my ear, and I descried a four-in-hand winding its way up the inn road from the direction of Mohair.}}
(more generally) To feel sorry about (any thing).
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.
* Macaulay
* Clarendon
* Washington Irving
(obsolete) Dislike; aversion.
To seize or shake by the throat, especially of a dog or wolf.
To harass; to irritate or distress.
Disturb the peace of mind of; afflict with mental agitation or distress.
To be troubled, to give way to mental anxiety.
(transitive, obsolete, except in Scots) To strangle.
To cause concern or anxiety.
*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= A strong feeling of anxiety.
:
An instance or cause of such a feeling.
:
As verbs the difference between regret and worry
is that regret is 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 while worry is to seize or shake by the throat, especially of a dog or wolf.As nouns the difference between regret and worry
is that regret is 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 while worry is a strong feeling of anxiety.regret
English
(wikipedia regret)Verb
(regrett)Usage notes
This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (the (-ing) form), except in set phrases with tell, say, and inform, where the to infinitive is used. SeeDerived terms
* regretterNoun
- What man does not remember with regret the first time he read Robinson Crusoe ?
- Never any prince expressed a more lively regret for the loss of a servant.
- From its peaceful bosom [the grave] spring none but fond regrets and tender recollections.
See also
* remorse * repentanceExternal links
* * ----worry
English
Verb
(en-verb)- Your dog’s been worrying sheep again.
- The President was worried into military action by persistent advisors.
- Your tone of voice worries me.
- Stop worrying about your test, it’ll be fine.
Can China clean up fast enough?, passage=That worries the government, which fears that environmental activism could become the foundation for more general political opposition.}}