# sorry
## English
### Etymology

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 *seh₂yro (“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. Despite the similarity in form and meaning, not related to sorrow. Equivalent to sore + -y.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈsɒ.ɹi/
** Audio (Received Pronunciation):(file)
* (General American) IPA: /ˈsɑɹ.i/
** Audio (US):(file)
* (General American, Canada) IPA: /ˈsɔɹ.i/
** Audio (Canada):(file)
** Homophone: sari (some accents)
* Rhymes: -ɒɹi

### Adjective

sorry (comparative sorrier, superlative sorriest)
* (of a person) Regretful or apologetic for one's actions.
    Synonyms: apologetic, compunctious, contrite, penitent, regretful, remorseful, repentant
    I am sorry I stepped on your toes. It was an accident.
* (of a person) Grieved or saddened, especially by the loss of something or someone.
    Synonyms: heavy-hearted, melancholy, mournful
    I am sorry for your loss.
    The President was sorry to hear that the Ambassador was leaving.
* 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.
** 2023 May 25, David Smith, “Failure to launch: Twitter glitches deal double blow to Elon Musk and Ron DeSantis”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:The sorry experience did little to suggest that Musk knows how to run a social media platform or that DeSantis is capable of governing a global superpower armed with nuclear weapons.

#### Derived terms

* better safe than sorry
* feel sorry for
* glad and sorry
* I'm sorry
* it's too late for sorry
* merry-go-sorry
* sorrily
* sorriness
* sorry-ass
* sorry business
* sorry for 1999
* sorry for oneself
* sorry I'm late
* sorry, not sorry
* supersorry
* unsorry

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Interjection

sorry
* Expresses regret, remorse, or sorrow.
    Synonym: (slang, chiefly Britain) 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.
* Said as a request to pass somebody.
    Synonym: excuse me
    Sorry! Coming through!

#### Usage notes

* A typically sarcastic use slows down the rhythm and stresses the final syllable, as /ˌsɒˈɹiːː/. This is often spelled as sorree or emphatically as something like SOR-REE!! in print.

#### Descendants

* → Czech: sorry
* → Dutch: sorry
** → Papiamentu: sòri
* → German: sorry
* → Finnish: sori
* → Hindi: सॉरी (sŏrī)
* → Icelandic: sorrí, sorrý
* → Korean: 쏘리 (ssori)
* → Polish: sorry, sorki
* → Scots: sorry, sorra
* → Spanish: sorry
* → Swedish: sorry
* → Welsh: sorri
* → Luxembourgish: sorry

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Noun

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...

#### Translations
### Verb

sorry (third-person singular simple present sorries, present participle sorrying, simple past and past participle sorried)
* (intransitive, transitive, rare) To feel sorry (for someone).
** 2004, David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas, Toronto, Ont.: Vintage Canada, →ISBN, page 302:Jus' that once I sorried for her. Souls cross the skies o' time, Abbess'd say, like clouds crossin' skies o' the world.

### Related terms

* sorrow
* sorrowful

### References

* “sorry, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

### Further reading

* “sorry”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “sorry”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

## Chinese
### Etymology

From English sorry.

### Pronunciation

* Cantonese: IPA: /sɔ⁵⁵ ɹi²¹/, /sɔ⁵⁵ li²¹/, /sɔ⁵⁵ wi²¹/

### Interjection

sorry
* (Hong Kong Cantonese, Singapore Hokkien, Penang Hokkien, colloquial) sorry

#### Synonyms

| Variety | Location | Words |
| Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | 對不起 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Beijing | 對不起 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Taiwan | 對不起 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Chengde | 對不起 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Harbin | 對不起 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Changchun | 對不起 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Jilin | 對不住 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Shenyang | 對不起 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Malaysia | 對不起 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Singapore | 對不起 |
| Jilu Mandarin | Cangzhou | 對不起 |
| Jilu Mandarin | Baoding | 對不起 |
| Jilu Mandarin | Shijiazhuang | 對不住 |
| Jilu Mandarin | Xingtai | 對不住 |
| Jilu Mandarin | Jinan | 對不起, 對不住 |
| Jiaoliao Mandarin | Dalian | 對不起 |
| Jiaoliao Mandarin | Yantai | 對不起 |
| Jiaoliao Mandarin | Qingdao | 對不起, 對不住 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Luoyang | 對不住 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Zhumadian | 對不住 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Zhoukou | 對不住 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Nanyang | 對不起, 對不住 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Linyi | 對不起, 對不住 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Wanrong | 對不起, 不好意思 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Zhengzhou | 對不起, 外氣 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Kaifeng | 對不住 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Xi'an | 對不起, 對不住 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Xianyang | 對不起 |
| Lanyin Mandarin | Yinchuan | 擔持 |
| Lanyin Mandarin | Lanzhou | 對不起 |
| Lanyin Mandarin | Ürümqi | 對不起 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Chengdu | 對不起 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Chongqing | 對不起, 對不住, 不好意思, 抱歉 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Wuhan | 對不起 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Lhasa | 對不起 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Guiyang | 對不起 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Kunming | 不好意思 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Liuzhou | 對沒起, 沒好意思 |
| Jianghuai Mandarin | Nanjing | 對不起 |
| Jianghuai Mandarin | Yangzhou | 對不起 |
| Jianghuai Mandarin | Taizhou | 對不起 |
| Jianghuai Mandarin | Nantong | 對不起 |
| Jianghuai Mandarin | Hefei | 對不住 |
| Cantonese | Guangzhou | 對唔住 |
| Cantonese | Hong Kong | 對唔住, sorry, sor informal |
| Cantonese | Macau | 對唔住 |
| Cantonese | Taishan | 對唔住 |
| Cantonese | Nanning | 對冇住 |
| Cantonese | Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu) | 對唔住 |
| Cantonese | Singapore (Guangfu) | 對唔住 |
| Gan | Nanchang | 不好得的 |
| Gan | Yichun | 對不住 |
| Gan | Ji'an | 難為你 |
| Hakka | Meixian | 對唔住 |
| Hakka | Huizhou (Huicheng; Bendihua) | 唔好意思 |
| Hakka | Miaoli (N. Sixian) | 失禮, 敗勢, 斯里麻生 |
| Hakka | Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian) | 失禮, 壞勢, 斯里麻生 |
| Hakka | Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu) | 失禮, 敗勢, 斯里麻生 |
| Hakka | Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu) | 失禮, 敗勢, 歪勢, 斯里麻生 |
| Hakka | Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping) | 失禮, 敗勢, 斯里麻生 |
| Hakka | Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an) | 失禮, 歹勢, 斯里麻生 |
| Hakka | Singapore (Dabu) | 敗勢 |
| Jin | Taiyuan | 對不起 |
| Northern Min | Jian'ou | 對伓住 |
| Eastern Min | Fuzhou | 對不住 |
| Eastern Min | Matsu | 對不住 |
| Southern Min | Xiamen | 歹勢, 對不住, 失禮 |
| Southern Min | Quanzhou | 歹勢, 對不住 |
| Southern Min | Zhangzhou | 䆀勢, 對不住 |
| Southern Min | Taipei | 失禮, 歹勢 |
| Southern Min | New Taipei (Sanxia) | 失禮 |
| Southern Min | Kaohsiung | 失禮, 歹勢 |
| Southern Min | Yilan | 失禮 |
| Southern Min | Changhua (Lukang) | 失禮, 歹勢 |
| Southern Min | Taichung | 失禮 |
| Southern Min | Taichung (Wuqi) | 失禮 |
| Southern Min | Tainan | 失禮, 歹勢 |
| Southern Min | Taitung | 歹勢 |
| Southern Min | Hsinchu | 失禮 |
| Southern Min | Kinmen | 失禮 |
| Southern Min | Penghu (Magong) | 失禮 |
| Southern Min | Penang (Hokkien) | 歹勢, sorry |
| Southern Min | Singapore (Hokkien) | 歹勢, 對毋住, sorry |
| Southern Min | Manila (Hokkien) | 歹勢, 對不住 |
| Southern Min | Chaozhou | 對唔住 |
| Southern Min | Shantou | 對唔住 |
| Southern Min | Singapore (Teochew) | 對唔住, 歹勢 |
| Wu | Shanghai | 勿好意思, 對勿起 |
| Wu | Shanghai (Xinzhuang, Minhang) | 對勿起 |
| Wu | Shanghai (Songjiang) | 對勿起 |
| Wu | Shanghai (Chuansha, Pudong) | 對勿起 |
| Wu | Shanghai (Jiading) | 對勿起 |
| Wu | Shanghai (Chongming) | 對勿住 |
| Wu | Suzhou | 對弗起 |
| Wu | Wuxi | 對弗住 |
| Wu | Kunshan | 對弗起 |
| Wu | Taicang | 抱歉 |
| Wu | Zhangjiagang | 對弗起 |
| Wu | Haining (Xiashi) | 對勿住 |
| Wu | Changzhou | 對勿起 |
| Wu | Hangzhou | 對不起 |
| Wu | Tonglu | 對勿住 |
| Wu | Shaoxing | 對勿住 |
| Wu | Ningbo | 交代勿過, 勿好意思 |
| Wu | Yuyao | 對勿住, 交代勿過 |
| Wu | Cixi | 交代弗過 |
| Wu | Taizhou (Jiaojiang) | 對弗住 |
| Wu | Linhai | 對弗住 |
| Wu | Wenzhou | 對否起 |
| Wu | Rui'an | 對否起 |
| Wu | Jinhua | 對弗住, 弗好意思 |
| Xiang | Changsha | 對不住 |
| Xiang | Loudi | 對不住 |

## Czech
### Etymology

Derived from English sorry.

### Interjection

sorry
* (informal) sorry (I apologize)
    Synonym: See also pardon

## Dutch
### Etymology

Borrowed from English sorry.

### Pronunciation

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

### Interjection

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!

#### Synonyms

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

#### Derived terms

* sorrycultuur
* sorrydemocratie
* sorry, mijn naam is Corrie

#### Related terms

* zeer

#### Descendants

* → Papiamentu: sòri

## German
### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English sorry.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈzɔʁi/, /ˈsɔri/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: sor‧ry

### Interjection

sorry
* (colloquial) sorry (expressing regret)
    Synonym: Entschuldigung
** 2020 December 24, Bernd Ulrich, “Das Jahr, in dem die Normalität zu Ende ging”, in Die Zeit‎:[…] 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 quotation)

### Further reading

* “sorry” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
* “sorry” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
* “sorry” in Duden online

## Middle English
### Etymology 1

From Anglo-Norman soree.

#### Noun

sorry
* Alternative form of sorre

### Etymology 2

From Old English sāriġ.

#### Noun

sorry
* (Late ME) Alternative form of sory

## Polish
### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English sorry.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈsɔ.rɘ/
* Rhymes: -ɔrɘ
* Syllabification: so‧rry

### Interjection

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

### Further reading

* sorry in Polish dictionaries at PWN

## Spanish
### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English sorry.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈsori/ [ˈso.ri]
* Rhymes: -ori
* Syllabification: so‧rry

### Interjection

sorry
* (informal) sorry (expressing regret)
    Synonym: perdón

#### Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

## Swedish
### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English sorry.

### Interjection

sorry
* (informal, casual) sorry (expressing regret)
    Sorry, brevet låg i fel brevlåda. Råkade öppna.Sorry, the letter was in the wrong letter box. Opened by mistake.
** 2024 January 12, Max Wiman, “Sorry, resten av Malmö – på Limhamn finns allt [Sorry, the rest of Malmö - Limhamn has everything]”, in Sydsvenskan:Det är svårt att sakna något här, så sorry resten av Malmö. Här finns allt.It's hard to miss something here, so sorry the rest of Malmö. Everything is here.

#### Usage notes

* As with many English expressions in Swedish; the word sorry has much lower weight and meaning than its counterpart förlåt (“sorry”).

#### Synonyms

* förlåt (“sorry”)
* ledsen (“sorry”), (casual) lessen (“sorry”)

### Anagrams

* syror

## Yola
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈsɔriː/

### Noun

sorry
* sorrow

### References

* Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) 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, published 1867, page 69