sorriness
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English sorinesse, from Old English sāriġness, from Proto-West Germanic *sairaganassī, *sairīganassī; equivalent to sorry + -ness. Cognate with West Frisian searigens (“soreness, tenderness”).
Noun edit
sorriness (uncountable)
- The state or quality of being sorry; regret.
- Worthlessness; wretchedness.
- 1967, Shields McIlwaine, The Southern Poor-white from Lubberland to Tobacco Road:
- His friend, Mr. Smith, thought that "a sorry farmer on a sorry farm is a sorry sight." Bill hardly attained that level of sorriness.