adj.
(sorrier, sorriest)
- feeling distress, especially through sympathy with someone else's misfortune.
▸
(sorry for)
filled with compassion for.
- feeling regret or penitence.
▸used to express apology.
- in a poor or pitiful state.
▸unpleasant and regrettable.
Derivative
- sorrily adv.
- sorriness n.
Etymology
OE sārig ‘pained, distressed’, of W. Gmc origin, from the base of sore.