ruefuladjective
uk/ˈruː.fəl/us/ˈruː.fəl/literaryfeeling sorry and wishing that something had not happened:
He turned away with a rueful laugh.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Sadness and regret
- a heavy heart idiom
- be/weigh on your conscience idiom
- bitter
- bring a lump to/have a lump in your throat idiom
- broken-hearted
- gloom
- gloomy
- guilt
- guilt complex
- guilt trip
- guilt-ridden
- guilt trip
- lament
- melancholy
- mourn
- rue
- rue the day idiom
- sackcloth
- sad
- sadly
See more results »
ruefully
adverb uk/ˈruː.fəl.i/us/ˈruː.fəl.i/
"I wish we'd started six months earlier," he said ruefully.