sorry

EnglishEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English sory, from Old English sāriġ (“feeling or expressing grief, sorry, grieved, sorrowful, sad, mournful, bitter”), from Proto-West Germanic *sairag, from Proto-Germanic *sairagaz (“sad”), from Proto-Indo-European *sayǝw- (“hard, rough, painful”). Cognate with Scots sairie (“sad, grieved”), Saterland Frisian seerich (“sore, inflamed”), West Frisian searich (“sad, sorry”), Low German serig (“sick, scabby”), German dialectal sehrig (“sore, sad, painful”), Swedish sårig. More at sore.

PronunciationEdit

(Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈsɔɹ.i/
Audio (Canada)
(file)
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɒɹ.i/, /ˈsɒɹ.ɪ/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsɑɹ.i/, /ˈsɔɹ.i/
Audio (US)
(file)
Homophone: sari (some accents)
Rhymes: -ɒɹi

AdjectiveEdit

sorry (comparative sorrier, superlative sorriest)

(of a person) Regretful or apologetic for an action.
I am sorry I stepped on your toes. It was an accident.

Synonyms: apologetic, compunctious, contrite, penitent, regretful, remorseful, repentant
(of a person) Grieved or saddened, especially by the loss of something or someone.
I am sorry for your loss.

The President was sorry to hear that the Ambassador was leaving.

Synonyms: heavy-hearted, melancholy, mournful
Poor, pitifully sad or regrettable.
The storm left his garden in a sorry state.
Pathetic; contemptibly inadequate.
Bob is a sorry excuse for a football player.

Derived termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

repentant, apologetic

Arabic: آسِف‎ (ʾāsif)
Egyptian Arabic: آسف‎ (āsif)

South Levantine Arabic: آسف‎ (ʔāsef)
Japanese: すまない (ja) (sumanai), 申し訳ない (mōshiwakenai)

Korean: 죄송하다 (ko) (joesonghada) (formal), 미안하다 (ko) (mianhada) (informal)

grieved, saddened

Arabic: حَزِين‎ (ḥazīn)
Japanese: 残念 (ja) (zannen), 遺憾 (ja) (ikan), 恐縮 (ja) (kyōshuku)
Korean: 안타깝다 (ko) (antakkapda)

Dutch: bedroefd (nl)
Turkish: üzgün (tr)

poor, regrettable

American Sign Language: A@Chest-PalmBack CirclesVert
Arabic: مُؤْسِف‎ (ar) (muʾsif), مُحْزِن‎ (muḥzin)
Catalan: llastimós
Czech: žalostný m
Danish: sørgelig
Dutch: armzalig (nl), treurig (nl)
Finnish: surkea (fi), surullinen (fi)
German: beklagenswert (de), armselig (de), traurig (de)
Greek:
Ancient Greek: φαῦλος (phaûlos)
Japanese: (poor) 気の毒 (ja) (ki no doku), かわいそう (ja) (kawaisō); (regrettable) 残念 (ja) (zannen), 遺憾 (ja) (ikan)

Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: پەشیمان‎ (ku) (peşîman)
Limburgish: zörgelik
Norwegian: sørgelig (no)
Polish: przykry (pl), żałosny (pl)
Portuguese: lastimável (pt) m or f
Russian: жа́лкий (ru) (žálkij), плаче́вный (ru) (plačévnyj)
Scottish Gaelic: truagh
Spanish: pobre (es) m or f
Swedish: sorglig (sv), ledsam (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

American Sign Language: A@Chest-PalmBack CirclesVert
Catalan: afligit (ca), perdona (ca)
Chickasaw: nokhánglo
Chinese:
Cantonese: 對唔住 (yue) (deoi³ m⁴ zyu⁶)

Mandarin: 遺憾 (zh), 遗憾 (zh) (yíhàn)
Czech: zarmoucený m
Danish: ked af
Estonian: kahju (et)
Finnish: pahoillaan (fi)
French: désolé (fr)
Galician: perdoe
German: es tut mir leid , Entschuldigung (de), sorry (de)
Greek: λυπάμαι (el) (lypámai)
Hebrew: מִצְטַעֵר‎ (he) (mitztaér)
Hungarian: sajnál (hu) verb
Irish: brónach

Italian: scusa (it)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: خەجاڵەت‎ (xecallet), لێبوردن‎ (lêburdin)
Malay: maaf
Norwegian: lei (no)
Ojibwe: maanendam
Persian: متاسف‎ (fa) (motâsef)
Plautdietsch: leet (nds)
Polish: przepraszam (pl), przykro mi
Portuguese: desculpa (pt), perdão (pt)
Russian: жаль (ru) (žalʹ), сожале́ющий (ru) (sožaléjuščij), огорчённый (ru) (ogorčónnyj)
Scottish Gaelic: duilich
Spanish: disculpa (es), disculpe (es), discúlpame
Swedish: ledsen (sv)
Tagalog: paumanhin (tl)

InterjectionEdit

sorry

Expresses regret, remorse, or sorrow.
Synonym: (informal) soz

Sorry! I didn't see that you were on the phone.

Sorry about yesterday. — No worries.
Used as a request for someone to repeat something not heard or understood clearly.
Synonyms: I beg your pardon?, I'm sorry?, say again, come again, (US) excuse me?; see also Thesaurus:say again

Sorry? What was that? The phone cut out.
Used to correct oneself in speech.
There are four —sorry, five— branches of the store locally.

DescendantsEdit

→ Czech: sorry
→ Dutch: sorry
- → Papiamentu: sòri
→ German: sorry
→ Hindi: सॉरी (sŏrī)
→ Polish: sorry, sorki
→ Scots: sorry, sorra
→ Spanish: sorry
→ Swedish: sorry
→ Welsh: sorri

TranslationsEdit

expression of regret or sorrow

Adangme: kusie
Afrikaans: jammer (af)
Albanian: më falni (formal), më fal (informal)
Alutiiq: kingun'inartua
American Sign Language: A@Chest-PalmBack CirclesVert
Amharic: አዝናለሁ (ʾäznalähu), እናዝናለን (ʾənaznalän), ይቅርታ (yəḳrəta),
Arabic: آسِف‎ m (ʾāsif), آسِفَة‎ f (ʾāsifa), أَنَا آسِف‎ m (ʾanā ʾāsif), أَنَا آسِفَة‎ f (ʾanā ʾāsifa)
Moroccan Arabic: سمح لي‎ (smaḥ li) (to a male), سمحي لي‎ (samḥi li) (to a female), سمحوا لي‎ (samḥu li) (to a group of people)
Armenian: ներեցեք (nerecʿekʿ) (formal), կներեք (knerekʿ) (formal), ներիր (nerir) (informal), կներես (kneres) (informal), ներողություն (hy) (nerołutʿyun)
Azerbaijani: bağışlayın
Belarusian: (formal) выбача́йце (vybačájcje), (informal) выбача́й (vybačáj)
Bengali: দুঃখিত (duḥkhit), মাফ করবেন (maph kôrôben), সরি (śôri)
Bulgarian: (formal) извине́те (bg) (izvinéte), (informal) извинявай (bg) (izvinjavaj), съжалявам (bg) (sǎžaljavam), пардо́н (bg) (pardón) (colloquial)
Burmese: ဝမ်းနည်း ပါ တယ်။ (wam:nany:patai||), ဆောရီး နော်။ (hcau:ri:nau||)
Catalan: perdó (ca), disculpes
Chinese:
Cantonese: 對不起, 对不起 (deui³ bat¹ hei²) (formal and written), 對唔住 (yue), 对唔住 (deui³ m⁴ jyu⁶), 唔好意思 (m⁴ hou² yi³ si¹)

Hakka: 敗勢, 败势 (phài-se), 斯里麻生 (sṳ̀-li-ma-sén), 對唔住, 对唔住 (dui⁴ m² cu⁴), 失禮, 失礼 (sṳt-lî)

Mandarin: 對不起 (zh), 对不起 (zh) (duìbùqǐ), 抱歉 (zh) (bàoqiàn), 不好意思 (zh) (bù hǎoyìsi), 對不住 (zh), 对不住 (zh) (duìbùzhù)

Min Nan: 歹勢 (zh-min-nan), 歹势 (pháiⁿ-sè, phái-sè), 毋好勢 (zh-min-nan), 毋好势 (m̄-hó-sè), 對不住 (zh-min-nan), 对不住 (tùi-put-chū), 對不起 (zh-min-nan), 对不起 (zh-min-nan) (tùi-put-khí), 失禮 (zh-min-nan), 失礼 (sit-lé)

Wu: 對勿起, 对勿起 (te veq qi), 勿好意思 (veq hau i sr)
Czech: promiň (informal singular), promiňte (plural or formal singular), pardon (cs)
Danish: undskyld (da), beklager
Dutch: sorry (nl), het spijt me, pardon (nl), excuseer (nl)
Esperanto: mi bedaŭras
Estonian: vabandust (et), andestust, andeks, sorry (et) (colloquial)
Finnish: anteeksi (fi), sori (fi), olen pahoillani, pahoittelen
French: désolé (fr), navré (fr), excusez-moi (fr), excuse-moi, pardon (fr)
Garo: kema
Georgian: უკაცრავად (uḳacravad)
German: Entschuldigung (de), sorry (de); (more formal) entschuldigen Sie bitte, verzeihen Sie bitte, es tut mir leid, ich bitte um Entschuldigung, Verzeihung (de)
Greek: συγγνώμη (el) (syngnómi)
Hebrew: סְלִיחָה‎ (he) (slikhha)
Hindi: माफ़ कीजिए (māf kījie), सॉरी (sŏrī)
Hungarian: elnézést, elnézést kérek, bocsánat (hu), bocs (hu) (informal)
Icelandic: fyrirgefðu (is), afsakið, fyrirgefðu mér
Ido: me regretas
Indonesian: maaf (id)
Interlingua: pardono
Irish: tá brón orm
Italian: scusi (it), scusa (it), mi scusi (it), spiacente (it), spiacenti (it) m pl or f pl
Japanese: すみません (ja) (sumimasen), すまない (sumanai) (informal), ごめんなさい (ja) (gomen'nasai), ごめん (gomen) (informal) 失礼しました (shitsurei shimashita), 申し訳ありません (もうしわけありません, mōshiwake arimasen)
Jingpho: tawng ban sai yaw

Karachay-Balkar: кечериксиз (keçeriksiz)
Khmer: សូមទោស (som tos)
Korean: 죄송 합니다 (joesonghamnida), 미안합니다 (ko) (mianhamnida), 실례합니다 (ko) (sillyehamnida), 미안 (ko) (mian) (informal)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ببوورە‎ (bbûre)
Lao: ຂໍໂທດ (khǭ thōt)
Latin: mihi īgnōsce, excusa, excusate pl, mihi ignoscite pl, doleo (la), me paenitet, meā culpā, paeniteō
Latvian: piedodiet
Limburgish: spietelik
Lithuanian: atsiprašau (lt), atleiskite, dovanokite (lt)
Malay: maaf
Maltese: skużi (mt), skużani
Mongolian: уучлаарай (uuchlaarai)
Northern Sami: ándagassii
Norwegian:
Bokmål: unnskyld (no), beklager (no)

Nynorsk: unnskyld, orsak
Okinawan: 悪さいびーん (わっさいびーん, wassaibīn)
Persian: معذرت می‌خواهم‎ (ma'zerat mi-xâham), ببخشید‎ (bebaxšid)
Polish: przepraszam (pl), przykro mi, (informal) sorry (pl)
Portuguese: desculpa (pt), (formal) perdão (pt), (slang) foi mal
Romanian: îmi pare rău, scuză (ro), (informal, familiar) scuză-mă, scuzați (ro), (formal, polite) scuzați-mă
Russian: извини́те/извини́ (ru) (izviníte/izviní) (formal/informal), прости́те/прости́ (ru) (prostíte/prostí) (formal/informal), прошу́ проще́ния (prošú proščénija), (informal) извиня́юсь (ru) (izvinjájusʹ), пардо́н (ru) (pardón) (colloquial), со́рри (ru) (sórri) (slang)
Scottish Gaelic: tha mi duilich
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: извините (formal), извини (informal), опростите

Roman: izvinite (sh) (formal), izvini (sh) (informal), oprostite (sh)
Slovak: (formal) prepáčte, (informal) prepáč (sk), bohužiaľ
Slovene: (formal) oprostite, (informal) oprosti
Spanish: discúlpame, perdóname, lo siento, perdón (es)
Swedish: förlåt (sv)
Tagalog: paumanhin (tl), patawad
Thai: ขอโทษ (th) (kɔ̌ɔ-tôot)
Tibetan: དགོངས་དག (dgongs dag)
Turkish: pardon (tr), özür dilerim (literally "I apologize"), afedersin (colloquial; informal, singular), affedersin (tr) (written; informal, singular), afedersiniz (tr) (colloquial; formal, plural), affedersiniz (tr) (written; informal, singular) üzgünüm (literally "I am sorry")
Ukrainian: проба́чте (probáčte) (formal), проба́ч (probáč) (informal), перепро́шую (perepróšuju), ви́бачте (výbačte) (formal), ви́бач (výbač) (informal), дару́йте (darújte) (formal), дару́й (darúj) (informal)
Urdu: ساری‎ (sārī) (literally 'sorry'), معاف کیجئے‎ (ma'āf kījiye) (literally 'forgive me', formal), معذرت‎ (ma'aẕirat), میں معذرت چاہتا ہوں‎ (ma͠i ma'aẕirat cāhtā hū̃) (literally 'I ask forgiveness', formal)
Uyghur: كەچۈرۈڭ‎ (kechürüng)
Vietnamese: xin lỗi (vi)
Walloon: mande escuze (wa)
Welsh: mae'n ddrwg gen i, sori
White Hmong: thov txim
Yiddish: זײַ מיר מוחל‎ (zay mir moykhl), עס טוט מיר לײַד‎ (es tut mir layd)
Zulu: ngiyaxolisa
ǃXóõ: ǀùa ǁʻúm ǀnān

request to repeat

Afrikaans: ekskuus, wat het jy gesê?, wat sê jy? (informal)
Arabic: عَفْوًا!‎ (ʿafwan!), (to a male) مَاذَا قُلْتَ؟‎ (māḏā qulta?), (to a female) مَاذَا قُلْتِ؟‎ (māḏā qulti?), عُذْراً!‎ (ar) (ʿuḏran!)
Bulgarian: моля? (bg) impf (molja?)
Catalan: perdó (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 請再説一遍, 请再说一遍 (qǐng zài shuō yíbiàn), (less formal) 再説一遍, 再说一遍 (zài shuō yíbiàn), (plain) 什麼？ (zh), 什么？ (zh) (shénme), 哦？ (zh) (é?)
Czech: prosím (cs)?
Danish: undskyld (da)
Dutch: pardon (nl)?, wat zegt u, wat zeg je
Esperanto: pardonu
Finnish: anteeksi (fi)
French: excusez-moi (fr), excuse-moi, pardon? (fr), comment? (fr), (plain) quoi (fr), hein? (fr) (colloquial)
Georgian: უკაცრავად (uḳacravad), რა (ka) (ra)
German: wie bitte? (de), bitte? (de), wie? (de) (plain)
Hungarian: tessék? (hu), elnézést, nem értem
Icelandic: afsakið?, fyrirgefðu (is)?
Indonesian: maaf (id)
Irish: gabh mo leithscéal
Italian: cosa (it)?, come (it)?, scusa (it)?, eh (it)? (colloquial), scusi (it)? (formal), mi scusi (it)? (formal)

Japanese: もう一回 (もういっかい, mō ikkai), もう一度 (もういちど, mō ichido) add いってください (itte kudasai) (to the end to make the request more polite), (plain) 何？ (ja) (なに？, nani?), え？ (ja) (e?)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ببوورە‎ (bbûre), بەڵێ‎ (ku) (bellê)
Latin: repete
Limburgish: waat? (li)
Malay: minta maaf, maaf
Mongolian: юу гэнээ? (yuu genee?)
Northern Sami: ándagassii
Norwegian: unnskyld (no)
Persian: ببخشید‎ (bebaxšid), معذرت می‌خواهم‎ (ma'zerat mi-xâham)
Polish: przepraszam? (pl), słucham?
Portuguese: quê? (pt) como?, hein? (pt), perdão? (pt)
Russian: прошу́ проще́ния (prošú proščénija), что вы сказа́ли (što vy skazáli)?, (plain) что? (ru) (što?)
Scottish Gaelic: b' àill leat? (informal singular), b' àill leibh? (plural or formal singular)
Serbo-Croatian: molim (sh)?
Spanish: ¿cómo? (es), ¿perdón? (es), (Colombia, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, colloquial) ¿ah? (es), (Cuba, Spain, colloquial) ¿eh? (es), (Mexico, colloquial) ¿mande? (es)
Swedish: ursäkta (sv), förlåt (sv)
Turkish: pardon (tr)?, efendim (tr)
Ukrainian: про́шу? (próšu?), що? (uk) (ščo?) (informal), що-що? (ščo-ščo?) (informal)
Urdu: جی؟‎ (jī?), کیا؟‎ (kyā?) (informal)
Walloon: kimint djhoz? (ordinary and polite), kimint diss? (familiar), cwè (wa)? (colloquial), pardon (wa)? (formal)

to correct oneself in speech

Finnish: tarkoitan, siis
French: pardon (fr), désolé (fr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Fijian: ^{(please verify)} vosota sara
Italian: ^{(please verify)} mi dispiace
Lithuanian: ^{(please verify)} atsiprašau (lt)
Sundanese: ^{(please verify)} punten

Tagalog: (informal) ^{(please verify)} pasensiya na, (formal) ^{(please verify)} pasensiya na po, (for adjective, 2) ^{(please verify)} sira (tl) The southern Tagalog term: Paumanhin related to Greek ὑπομονή (patience)
Tamil: ^{(please verify)} மன்னிக்கவும் (maṉṉikkavum)
Welsh: ^{(please verify)} mae'n flin gen i, ^{(please verify)} mae'n ddrwg gen i

NounEdit

sorry (plural sorries or sorrys)

The act of saying sorry; an apology.
- 2007, Christopher Levan, Give Us This Day: Lenten Reflections on Baking Bread and Discipleship (page 107)
  The British would do it standing stock still, Latinos would dance their sorries, and Canadians would find a way to apologize on ice.
- 2008, Lucy S. Danziger, Self Magazine's 15 Minutes to Your Best Self:
  So learn how to tailor your sorries to the sexes. Women tend to want an acknowledgment of what they're going through...

TranslationsEdit

act of saying sorry

Afrikaans: verskoning vra
Finnish: anteeksipyyntö (fi)
Greek: συγγνώμη (el) f (syngnómi)

Italian: scuse (it) f pl
Persian: پوزش‎ (fa) (puzeš)
Swedish: förlåt (sv) n, ursäkt (sv) c

Related termsEdit

CzechEdit

EtymologyEdit

From English sorry.

InterjectionEdit

sorry

(informal) sorry (I apologize)

SynonymsEdit

See also pardon

DutchEdit

EtymologyEdit

Borrowed from English sorry.

PronunciationEdit

IPA^(key): /ˈsɔ.ri/
Audio
(file)
Hyphenation: sor‧ry

InterjectionEdit

sorry

sorry (expressing regret)
Je hebt me heel erg pijn gedaan toen je dat zei. — Sorry, dat is nooit mijn bedoeling geweest.
You really hurt me a lot when you said that. — Sorry, that was never my intention.
sorry, pardon, excuse me
Je stond op mijn voet! — Oh, sorry!
You were standing on my foot! — Oh, sorry!

SynonymsEdit

(expressing regret): het spijt me
(pardon): pardon, excuseer

Derived termsEdit

Related termsEdit

zeer

DescendantsEdit

→ Papiamentu: sòri

GermanEdit

EtymologyEdit

Borrowed from English sorry.

PronunciationEdit

IPA^(key): /ˈzɔʁi/, /ˈsɔri/
Hyphenation: sor‧ry

InterjectionEdit

sorry

(colloquial) sorry (expressing regret)
Synonym: Entschuldigung
- 2020 December 24, Bernd Ulrich, “Das Jahr, in dem die Normalität zu Ende ging”, in Die Zeit‎^[1]:
  […] Armin Laschet und Olaf Scholz wollen vor allem die alte BRD bewahren und die Methode Merkel mit, sorry, schwächeren Mitteln prolongieren; […]
  (please add an English translation of this quote)

Middle EnglishEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From Anglo-Norman soree.

NounEdit

sorry

Alternative form of sorre

Etymology 2Edit

From Old English sāriġ.

NounEdit

sorry

(Late ME) Alternative form of sory

PolishEdit

EtymologyEdit

From English sorry.

PronunciationEdit

IPA^(key): /ˈsɔ.rɨ/

InterjectionEdit

sorry

(informal) sorry! (expressing regret)
Synonym: przepraszam

SpanishEdit

EtymologyEdit

From English sorry.

InterjectionEdit

sorry

(informal) sorry (expressing regret)
Synonym: perdón

SwedishEdit

EtymologyEdit

From English sorry

InterjectionEdit

sorry

(informal, casual) sorry (expressing regret)
Synonym: förlåt

Sorry, brevet låg i fel brevlåda. Råkade öppna.
Sorry, the letter was in the wrong letter box. Opened by mistake.

AnagramsEdit

syror

YolaEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English sory, from Old English sāriġ, from Proto-West Germanic *sairag.

NounEdit

sorry

sorrow

ReferencesEdit

Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith

sorry

EnglishEdit

EtymologyEdit

PronunciationEdit

AdjectiveEdit

Derived termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

InterjectionEdit

DescendantsEdit

TranslationsEdit

NounEdit

TranslationsEdit

Related termsEdit

Further readingEdit

CzechEdit

EtymologyEdit

InterjectionEdit

SynonymsEdit

DutchEdit

EtymologyEdit

PronunciationEdit

InterjectionEdit

SynonymsEdit

Derived termsEdit

Related termsEdit

DescendantsEdit

GermanEdit

EtymologyEdit

PronunciationEdit

InterjectionEdit

Further readingEdit

Middle EnglishEdit

Etymology 1Edit

NounEdit

Etymology 2Edit

NounEdit

PolishEdit

EtymologyEdit

PronunciationEdit

InterjectionEdit

Further readingEdit

SpanishEdit

EtymologyEdit

InterjectionEdit

SwedishEdit

EtymologyEdit

InterjectionEdit

AnagramsEdit

YolaEdit

EtymologyEdit

NounEdit

ReferencesEdit