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Glite Dictionary
to repine

to repine

1 9.9
To feel unhappy and complain about something you cannot change
  • verb
  • /rɪˈpaɪn/
  • Archaic
translation icon : quejarse
  • "Spenser then names one, 'Grille by name,' who 'repined greatly,' and reproached his rescuers bitterly for restoring him, 'that had from hoggish form him brought to natural.'"

Examples

  • He often repines about the restrictions placed on him by his job.

  • As for me, I had made love to the job while repining.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • All the while I was bemused, in a kind of wondering bliss that left me no opportunity to repine.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • I did not repine, for they left me my reading privileges, and I found new work keeping order in the Yellow Coach, a large tavern in the foreign quarter.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • So the young lord spoke to the young woman and said he wanted to make her his bride, and that his only requirement was that she should promise to obey him in everything, to do whatever he desired, without hesitating or repining, at every moment of the day or night.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • It was one of Walter's peculiarities that he liked to make people swear in advance to accept unconditionally and without repining whatever he himself might choose to do.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Even though the weather was terrible, she refused to repine and instead made the best of the situation.

  • It's understandable to repine over lost opportunities, but it's important to focus on the future.

Synonyms

to complain
vsto repine
∞ 1.0

To say you are unhappy about something and want it changed

expresses displeasure as longing or resignation about things beyond control

How Discontent

to lament
  • Formal
62 5.0
to repine
  • Archaic
1 9.9
to complain
∞ 1.0
to grumble
41 3.7
to murmur
11 4.2

Surface Forms

repine infinitive
repined past
repined past participle
repining present participle
repines third person singular

Morphology

repine = pine (semi-transparent) = re + pine

Formally analyzable as 're-' + 'pine', but the modern meaning 'complain' or 'express discontent' is not a straightforward 'again' interpretation and is somewhat archaic/shifted.

Etymology

Repine can be seen as re- plus pine, where pine once meant 'to yearn' or 'to suffer'. So, repine means to complain or feel longing about something you cannot change.