ZebraWords.com - The Definition of 'Woe', Synonyms of 'Woe' & More on 'Woe'

1. WordNet® 3.0 (2006)

woe
    n 1: misery resulting from affliction [syn: suffering, woe]
    2: intense mournfulness [syn: woe, woefulness]

2. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Woe \Woe\, a.
   Woeful; sorrowful. [Obs.]
   [1913 Webster]

         His clerk was woe to do that deed.       --Robert of
                                                  Brunne.
   [1913 Webster]

         Woe was this knight and sorrowfully he sighed.
                                                  --Chaucer.
   [1913 Webster]

         And looking up he waxed wondrous woe.    --Spenser.
   [1913 Webster]

3. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Woe \Woe\, n. [OE. wo, wa, woo, AS. w[=a], interj.; akin to D.
   wee, OS. & OHG. w[=e], G. weh, Icel. vei, Dan. vee, Sw. ve,
   Goth. wai; cf. L. vae, Gr. ?. [root]128. Cf. Wail.]
   [Formerly written also wo.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. Grief; sorrow; misery; heavy calamity.
      [1913 Webster]

            Thus saying, from her side the fatal key,
            Sad instrument of all our woe, she took. --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

            [They] weep each other's woe.         --Pope.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A curse; a malediction.
      [1913 Webster]

            Can there be a woe or curse in all the stores of
            vengeance equal to the malignity of such a practice?
                                                  --South.
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: Woe is used in denunciation, and in exclamations of
         sorrow. " Woe is me! for I am undone." --Isa. vi. 5.
         [1913 Webster]

               O! woe were us alive [i.e., in life]. --Chaucer.
         [1913 Webster]

               Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! --Isa.
                                                  xlv. 9.
         [1913 Webster]

   Woe worth, Woe be to. See Worth, v. i.
      [1913 Webster]

            Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day,
            That costs thy life, my gallant gray! --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.
      [1913 Webster]

Thesaurus Results for Woe:

1. Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

abomination, aching heart, affliction, agony, agony of mind, anguish, atrocity, bad, bale, bane, befoulment, bemoaning, bewailing, bitter cup, bitter draft, bitter draught, bitter pill, bitterness, bleeding heart, blight, broken heart, bugbear, burden, burden of care, calamity, cankerworm of care, care, carking care, cataclysm, catastrophe, corruption, cross, crown of thorns, crushing, crushing burden, crying evil, curse, damage, death, defilement, depression, depth of misery, desolation, despair, despoliation, destruction, detriment, disease, distress, dole, encumbrance, evil, extremity, gall, gall and wormwood, grief, grievance, harm, havoc, heartache, heartbreak, heartfelt grief, heartgrief, heavy heart, hurt, ill, infection, infelicity, infliction, injury, lamentation, languishment, load, melancholia, melancholy, misadventure, mischief, misery, nemesis, open wound, oppression, outrage, pack of troubles, peck of troubles, pest, pestilence, pining, plague, poison, pollution, prostration, regret, rue, running sore, sadness, scourge, sea of troubles, sorrow, sorrowing, suicidal despair, the worst, thorn, torment, toxin, tragedy, trouble, unhappiness, venom, vexation, visitation, waters of bitterness, weight, wretchedness, wrong

Common Misspellings >