woe
95
6.1
- noun
- /woʊ/
- Literature
:
aflicción
- The novel tells the story of a man's struggles and the woe he faces in his relationships.
- economic woes
- financial woes
- tales of woe
There are children involved, marriage, you know, woes, familial woes.
- There are children involved, marriage, you know, woes, familial woes.
- Many of them seem not to know this woe at all.
- Isn't love their tale of woe or abuse or trauma?
- In some ways, Colton's Wi-Fi woes are a bit of a first world problem.
- And he proposes that the only solution to Italy's woes is a strong mighty leader.
- I mean, think that our honey luminous silk concealer and just concealing all of my woes today.
- And for instance, woes unite foes, right?
Examples
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In the song, Bessie Smith sings of the cares and woes of a washerwoman.
Academic text (2008) -
The woes of Rustenburg have been forgotten in Cape Town.
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Many of them seem not to know this woe at all.
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The world is so full of old sin and woe.
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I will probably share my tale of woe with my colleagues over lunch.
Academic text (1998) -
But people blame all the woes of their lives on circumstances, other people, and then ultimately themselves.
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Why did I ever issue from the womb to see misery and woe, to spend all my days in shame?
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Compounding these woes was political strife.
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The old sun, so careless of human woes, shone brightly every day.
Fiction book (1996) -
After losing her job, she felt a deep sense of woe that affected her mood every day.
Synonyms
∞
1.8
A deep sad feeling caused by losing someone or something
636
2.8
Pain and trouble that a person feels in the body or mind
310
2.8
A feeling of great unhappiness and suffering
243
2.1
A deep feeling of sadness after a loss
3
7.1
A state of great unhappiness and suffering often caused by poverty
Antonyms
Idioms
How Sad
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word woe comes from the old English word wā, meaning 'sorrow' or 'grief', and is like the German Weh, which means 'pain', and you can see the same root in woeful, meaning 'full of woe'. So, woe still means deep sadness or great trouble.