regretfuladj.

1647 R. Fanshawe tr. B. Guarini Pastor Fido iii. i Thou art return'd, but nought returns with thee Save my lost joyes regretfull memory.

a1763 W. Shenstone Elegies xix, in Wks. Verse & Prose (1764) I. 48 Think not regretful I survey the deed.

1791 T. Paine Rights of Man i. 153 The regretful manner in which he expresses himself.

1837 C. A. Wheelwright tr. Aristophanes Comedies II. 106 Hating the town, regretful of my burgh.

1894 G. Du Maurier Trilby II. 212 They soon forgot the regretful impressions of the day.

1900 A. Pratt King of Rocks viii. 142 She herself was already regretful of what she called her weakness.

1920 D. H. Lawrence Women in Love xxvii. 420 ‘Can't you really?’ came Ursula's regretful voice. ‘No, really I can't,’ responded Gudrun's pathetic, chagrined words out of the dusk.

1988 J. Herbert Haunted xviii. 129 She seemed truly regretful when she said, ‘I didn't mean to... Do you forgive me?’

2008 I. M. Banks Matter ix. 158 He seemed most tearfully regretful..and I formed the distinct impression he would do what he could.

1834 Monthly Repository May 342 The natural regretfulness of so affectionate a temperament, hardly and often tried by death and separation.

1987 Christian Sci. Monitor (Nexis) 12 Nov. 25 Far from regretfulness or anger or even mundane fear, she longs for her fate.

2006 ‘B. Black’ Christine Falls ii. 40 The smoke, the smell of the soup, the whiskey fumes all combined to promote in him a feeling of faint, sweet regretfulness.