WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Sor"ry
Part of Speech : a.
Etymology : [OE. sory, sary, AS. sarig, fr. sar, n., sore. See Sore, n. & a. The original sense was, painful; hence. miserable, sad.]
Definition : 1. Grieved for the loss of some good; pained for some evil; feeling regret; -- now generally used to express light grief or affliction, but formerly often used to express deeper feeling. "I am sorry for my sins." Piers Plowman. Ye were made sorry after a godly manner. 2 Cor. vii. 9. I am sorry for thee, friend; 't is the duke's pleasure. Shak. She entered, were he lief or sorry. Spenser.

2. Melancholy; dismal; gloomy; mournful. Spenser. All full of chirking was this sorry place. Chaucer.

3. Poor; mean; worthless; as, a sorry excuse. "With sorry grace." Chaucer. Cheeks of sorry grain will serve. Milton. Good fruit will sometimes grow on a sorry tree. Sir W. Scott.

Syn. -- Hurt; afflicted; mortified; vexed; chagrined; melancholy; dismal; poor; mean; pitiful.

[Compar. Sorrier; superl. Sorriest.]
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913