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^(key): /ˈsɒ.ɹi/

  • Audio (RP)

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -ɒɹi
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈsɑɹ.i/, /ˈsɔɹ.i/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

  • Audio (Canada)

    (file)

  • Homophone: sari (some accents)
  • Rhymes: -ɑɹi, -ɔɹi

Adjective

sorry (comparative sorrier, superlative sorriest)

1. (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.

3. (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.

4. Poor, pitifully sad or regrettable.

   The storm left his garden in a sorry state.

5. 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^[1], →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 business
• sorry for oneself
• sorry I'm late
• sorry not sorry
• supersorry
• unsorry

 

Translations

repentant, apologetic

• Arabic: آسِف (ʔāsif)

  Egyptian Arabic: آسف (āsif)

  South Levantine Arabic: آسف (ʔāsef)

• Bulgarian: съжаляващ (bg) (sǎžaljavašt)
• Catalan: penedint (ca)
• French: regretter (fr) (literally “to regret”), en tren de regretter (literally “regretting”)
• Italian: stare dispiaciuto (Dispiacere can mean "to make one regret.")
• Japanese: すまない (ja) (sumanai), 申し訳ない (ja) (mōshiwakenai)
• Korean: 죄송하다 (ko) (joesong-hada) (formal), 미안하다 (ko) (mian-hada) (informal)
• Latin: lamento (literally “to regret”), lamentans (literally “regretting”) (present participle of lamentāre)
• Portuguese: sentir (pt) (literally “to regret”), pesaroso (pt), lamentar (pt) (literally “to regret”)
• Spanish: lamentar (es) (literally “to regret”), sentir (es) (literally “to regret”), pesaroso (es)

grieved, saddened

• Arabic: حَزِين (ḥazīn)
• Bulgarian: тъжен (bg) (tǎžen), мрачен (bg) (mračen)
• Catalan: saber greu (ca) (translates as "to make one be sorry" in the sympathetic sense), sentirse mal (translates as "to feel bad")
• Dutch: bedroefd (nl)
• French: navré (fr), désolé (fr)
• Italian: dispiaciuto (it)
• Japanese: 残念 (ja) (zannen), 遺憾 (ja) (ikan), 恐縮 (ja) (kyōshuku)
• Korean: 안타깝다 (ko) (antakkapda)
• Portuguese: lamentar (pt) (translates as "to be sorry" in the sympathetic sense), a lamentar
• Spanish: apenado (es)
• Turkish: üzgün (tr)
• Ukrainian: засму́чений (zasmúčenyj)

poor, regrettable

• American Sign Language: A@Chest-PalmBack CirclesVert
• Arabic: مُؤْسِف (ar) (muʔsif), مُحْزِن (muḥzin)
• Bulgarian: жалък (bg) (žalǎk)
• Catalan: llastimós
• Czech: žalostný m
• Danish: sørgelig
• Dutch: armzalig (nl), treurig (nl)
• Finnish: surkea (fi), surullinen (fi)
• French: piteux (fr)
• German: beklagenswert (de), armselig (de), traurig (de)
• Greek: συγνώμη (el) (sygnómi)

  Ancient Greek: φαῦλος (phaûlos)

• Japanese: (poor) 気の毒 (ja) (ki no doku), かわいそう (ja) (kawaisō); (regrettable) 残念 (ja) (zannen), 遺憾 (ja) (ikan)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: پەشیمان (ckb) (peşîman)

• Limburgish: zörgelik
• Norwegian: sørgelig (no)
• Polish: przykry (pl), żałosny (pl)
• Portuguese: lastimável (pt) m or f
• Russian: жа́лкий (ru) (žálkij), плаче́вный (ru) (plačévnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: truagh
• Spanish: pobre (es)
• Swedish: sorglig (sv), ledsam (sv)

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

Translations to be checked

• American Sign Language: A@Chest-PalmBack CirclesVert
• Catalan: afligit (ca), perdona (ca)
• Chickasaw: nokhánglo
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 對唔住／对唔住 (yue) (deoi³ m⁴ zyu⁶)

  Mandarin: 遺憾／遗憾 (zh) (yíhàn)

• Czech: zarmoucený m
• Danish: ked af
• Estonian: kahju (et)
• Finnish: pahoillaan (fi)
• French: désolé (fr)
• Galician: perdoe
• Greek: λυπάμαι (el) (lypámai)
• Hebrew: מִצְטַעֵר (he) (mitzta'ér)
• Hungarian: sajnál (hu) (verb)
• Irish: brónach
• Italian: scusa (it)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: خەجاڵەت (xecallet), لێبوردن (lêburdin)

• Malay: maaf
• Norwegian: lei (no)
• Ojibwe: maanendam
• Persian: متاسف (fa) (motâsef)
• Plautdietsch: leet (nds)
• Polish: przepraszam (pl), przykro mi (pl)
• Portuguese: desculpa (pt), perdão (pt)
• Russian: жаль (ru) (žalʹ), сожале́ющий (ru) (sožaléjuščij), огорчённый (ru) (ogorčónnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: duilich
• Spanish: disculpa (es), disculpe (es), discúlpame
• Swedish: ledsen (sv)
• Tagalog: paumanhin (tl)

Interjection

sorry

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. Used to correct oneself in speech.

   There are four– sorry, five branches of the store locally.

4. Said as a request to pass somebody.

   Synonym: excuse me

   Sorry! Coming through!

Descendants

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

Translations

expression of regret or sorrow

• Adangme: kusie
• Afrikaans: jammer (af)
• Albanian: më falni (formal), më fal (informal)
• Alutiiq: kingun'inartua
• American Sign Language: A@Chest-PalmBack CirclesVert
• Amharic: አዝናለሁ (ʾäznalähu), እናዝናለን (ʾənaznalän), ይቅርታ (yəḳrəta),
• Arabic: آسِف m (ʔāsif), آسِفَة f (ʔāsifa), أَنَا آسِف m (ʔanā ʔāsif), أَنَا آسِفَة f (ʔanā ʔāsifa)

  Moroccan Arabic: سمح لي (smaḥ li) (to a male), سمحي لي (samḥi li) (to a female), سمحوا لي (samḥu li) (to a group of people)

• Armenian: ներեցեք (nerecʿekʿ) (formal), կներեք (knerekʿ) (formal), ներիր (nerir) (informal), կներես (kneres) (informal), ներողություն (hy) (neroġutʿyun)
• Azerbaijani: bağışlayın
• Basque: barka (eu), barkamen (eu)
• Belarusian: (formal) выбача́йце (vybačájcje), (informal) выбача́й (vybačáj)
• Bengali: দুঃখিত (bn) (dukkhito), মাফ করবেন (maph korben), সরি (bn) (śori)
• Bulgarian: (formal) извине́те (bg) (izvinéte), (informal) извинявай (bg) (izvinjavaj), съжалявам (bg) (sǎžaljavam), пардо́н (bg) (pardón) (colloquial)
• Burmese: ဝမ်းနည်းပါတယ်။ (wam:nany:patai||), ဆောရီးနော်။ (hcau:ri:nau||)
• Catalan: perdó (ca), disculpes
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 對不起／对不起 (deoi³ bat¹ hei²) (formal and written), 對唔住／对唔住 (yue) (deoi³ m⁴ jyu⁶), 唔好意思 (m⁴ hou² ji³ si¹)

  Hakka: 敗勢／败势 (phài-se), 斯里麻生 (sṳ̀-li-ma-sén), 對唔住／对唔住 (dui⁴ m² cu⁴), 失禮／失礼 (sṳt-lî)

  Hokkien: 歹勢／歹势 (zh-min-nan) (pháiⁿ-sè, phái-sè), 毋好勢／毋好势 (zh-min-nan) (m̄-hó-sè), 對不住／对不住 (zh-min-nan) (tùi-put-chū), 對不起／对不起 (zh-min-nan) (tùi-put-khí), 失禮／失礼 (zh-min-nan) (sit-lé)

  Mandarin: 對不起／对不起 (zh) (duìbùqǐ), 抱歉 (zh) (bàoqiàn), 不好意思 (zh) (bù hǎoyìsi), 對不住／对不住 (zh) (duìbùzhù)

  Wu: 對勿起／对勿起, 勿好意思 (⁵veq-hau-i-sr)

• Czech: promiň (informal singular), promiňte (plural or formal singular), pardon (cs)
• Danish: undskyld (da), beklager
• Dutch: sorry (nl), het spijt me, pardon (nl), excuseer (nl)
• Esperanto: mi bedaŭras (sorrow), mi pardonpetas (remorse), pardonu (remorse)
• Estonian: vabandust (et), andestust, andeks, sorry (et) (colloquial)
• Finnish: anteeksi (fi), sori (fi), olen pahoillani, pahoittelen
• French: désolé (fr), navré (fr), excusez-moi (fr), excuse-moi (fr), pardon (fr) je m’excuse (fr)
• Garo: kema
• Georgian: უკაცრავად (uḳacravad)
• German: Entschuldigung (de), sorry (de); (more formal) entschuldigen Sie bitte, verzeihen Sie bitte, es tut mir leid, ich bitte um Entschuldigung, Verzeihung (de)
• Greek: συγγνώμη (el) (syngnómi)
• Hebrew: מִצְטַעֵר (he) (mitzta'ér)
• Hindi: माफ़ कीजिए (māf kījie), सॉरी (sŏrī)
• Hungarian: elnézést (hu), elnézést kérek, bocsánat (hu), bocs (hu) (informal)
• Icelandic: fyrirgefðu (is), afsakið, fyrirgefðu mér
• Ido: me regretas
• Indonesian: maaf (id)
• Interlingua: pardono
• Irish: tá brón orm
• Italian: scusi (it), scusa (it), mi scusi (it), spiacente (it), spiacenti (it) m pl or f pl
• Japanese: すみません (ja) (sumimasen), すまない (sumanai) (informal), ごめんなさい (ja) (gomennasai), ごめん (gomen) (informal) 失礼しました (ja) (shitsurei shimashita), 申し訳ありません (ja) (もうしわけありません, mōshiwake arimasen)
• Jingpho: tawng ban sai yaw
• Karachay-Balkar: кечериксиз (keçeriksiz)
• Khmer: សូមទោស (som tos)
• Korean: 죄송합니다 (ko) (joesong hamnida) (little more polite, little more formal), 미안합니다 (ko) (mian hamnida) (polite, formal), 실례합니다 (ko) (sillye hamnida) (polite, formal), 미안 (ko) (mian) (informal, casual), 미안해요 (ko) (mian haeyo) (polite, informal), 죄송해요 (ko) (joesong haeyo) (little more polite, little less informal)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ببوورە (bbûre)

• Lao: ຂໍໂທດ (khǭ thōt)
• Latin: mihi īgnōsce, excūsā, excūsāte pl, mihi īgnōscite pl, doleō (la), mē paenitet, meā culpā, paeniteō
• Latvian: piedodiet
• Limburgish: spietelik (li)
• Lithuanian: atsiprašau (lt), atleiskite, dovanokite (lt)
• Malay: maaf
• Maltese: skużi (mt), skużani
• Mongolian: уучлаарай (uučlaaraj)
• Northern Sami: ándagassii
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: unnskyld (no), beklager (no)

  Nynorsk: unnskyld, orsak

• Okinawan: 悪さいびーん (わっさいびーん, wassaibīn)
• Persian: معذرت می‌خواهم (ma'zerat mi-xâham), ببخشید (fa) (bebaxšid)
• Polish: przepraszam (pl), przykro mi (pl), (informal) sorry (pl), wybacz, przebacz, pardon (pl) (rare), daruj (archaic)
• Portuguese: desculpa (pt), (formal) perdão (pt), (slang) foi mal
• Romanian: îmi pare rău, scuză (ro), (informal, familiar) scuză-mă, scuzați (ro), (formal, polite) scuzați-mă
• Russian: извини́те/извини́ (ru) (izviníte/izviní) (formal/informal), прости́те/прости́ (ru) (prostíte/prostí) (formal/informal), прошу́ проще́ния (prošú proščénija), (informal) извиня́юсь (ru) (izvinjájusʹ), пардо́н (ru) (pardón) (colloquial), со́рри (ru) (sórri) (slang)
• Scottish Gaelic: tha mi duilich
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: извините (formal), извини (informal), опростите

  Roman: izvinite (sh) (formal), izvini (sh) (informal), oprostite (sh)

• Slovak: (formal) prepáčte, (informal) prepáč (sk), bohužiaľ
• Slovene: (formal) oprostite, (informal) oprosti
• Spanish: discúlpame, perdóname, lo siento, perdón (es)
• Swedish: förlåt (sv)
• Tagalog: paumanhin (tl), patawad
• Thai: ขอโทษ (th) (kɔ̌ɔ-tôot)
• Tibetan: དགོངས་དག (dgongs dag)
• Turkish: pardon (tr), özür dilerim (literally “I apologize”), afedersin (colloquial, informal, singular), affedersin (tr) (written, informal, singular), afedersiniz (tr) (colloquial, formal, plural), affedersiniz (tr) (written, informal, singular) üzgünüm (literally “I am sorry”)
• Ukrainian: проба́чте (probáčte) (formal), проба́ч (probáč) (informal), перепро́шую (perepróšuju), ви́бачте (výbačte) (formal), ви́бач (výbač) (informal), дару́йте (darújte) (formal), дару́й (darúj) (informal)
• Urdu: معاف کیجئے (ma'āf kījie, literally “forgive me”) (formal), معذرت (ma'azirat), میں معذرت چاہتا ہوں (ma͠i ma'azirat cāhtā hū̃, literally “I ask forgiveness”) (formal)
• Uyghur: كەچۈرۈڭ (kechürüng)
• Vietnamese: xin lỗi (vi)
• Walloon: mande escuze (wa)
• Welsh: mae'n ddrwg gen i, sori
• White Hmong: thov txim
• Yiddish: זײַ מיר מוחל (zay mir moykhl), עס טוט מיר לײַד (es tut mir layd)
• Zulu: ngiyaxolisa
• ǃXóõ: ǀùa ǁʻúm ǀnān

request to repeat

• Afrikaans: ekskuus, wat het jy gesê?, wat sê jy? (informal)
• Arabic: عَفْوًا! (ʕafwan!), (to a male) مَاذَا قُلْتَ؟ (māḏā qulta?), (to a female) مَاذَا قُلْتِ؟ (māḏā qulti?), عُذْراً! (ar) (ʕuḏran!)
• Bulgarian: моля? (bg) impf (molja?)
• Catalan: perdó (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 請再説一遍／请再说一遍 (qǐng zài shuō yíbiàn), (less formal) 再説一遍／再说一遍 (zài shuō yíbiàn), (plain) 什麼？／什么？ (zh) (shénme), 哦？ (zh) (é?)

• Czech: prosím (cs)?
• Danish: undskyld (da)
• Dutch: pardon (nl)?, wat zegt u, wat zeg je
• Esperanto: pardonu
• Finnish: anteeksi (fi)
• French: excusez-moi (fr), excuse-moi (fr), pardon? (fr), comment? (fr), (plain) quoi (fr), hein? (fr) (colloquial)
• Georgian: უკაცრავად (uḳacravad), რა (ka) (ra)
• German: wie bitte? (de), bitte? (de), wie? (de) (plain)
• Hungarian: tessék? (hu), elnézést, nem értem
• Icelandic: afsakið?, fyrirgefðu (is)?
• Indonesian: maaf (id)
• Irish: gabh mo leithscéal
• Italian: cosa (it)?, come (it)?, scusa (it)?, eh (it)? (colloquial), scusi (it)? (formal), mi scusi (it)? (formal)
• Japanese: もう一回 (もういっかい, mō ikkai), もう一度 (もういちど, mō ichido), (more formal) もう一度いってください (mō ichido itte kunasai), (plain) 何？ (ja) (なに？, nani?), え？ (ja) (e?)
• Korean: 네? (ko) (ne?) (polite), 예? (ko) (ye?) (polite, formal), 다시 한번 더 말씀해주세요 (dasi hanbeon deo malsseumhaejuseyo) (polite, honorific), 다시 한번 더 말씀해주시겠어요? (dasi hanbeon deo malsseumhaejusigesseoyo?) (slightly more polite, honorific), 뭐라고? (mworago?) (informal), 뭐? (ko) (mwo?) (informal), 어? (ko) (eo?) (colloquial, informal), 넹? (ko) (neng?) (colloquial, aegyo, imitiatve)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ببوورە (bbûre), بەڵێ (bellê)

• Latin: repete
• Limburgish: waat? (li)
• Malay: minta maaf, maaf
• Mongolian: юу гэнээ? (juu genee?)
• Northern Sami: ándagassii
• Norwegian: unnskyld (no)
• Persian: ببخشید (fa) (bebaxšid), معذرت می‌خواهم (ma'zerat mi-xâham)
• Polish: przepraszam? (pl), słucham?
• Portuguese: quê? (pt), como (pt)?, hein? (pt), perdão? (pt)
• Russian: прошу́ проще́ния (prošú proščénija), что вы сказа́ли (što vy skazáli)?, (plain) что? (ru) (što?)
• Scottish Gaelic: b' àill leat? (informal singular), b' àill leibh? (plural or formal singular)
• Serbo-Croatian: molim (sh)?
• Spanish: ¿cómo? (es), ¿perdón? (es), (Colombia, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, colloquial) ¿ah? (es), (Cuba, Spain, colloquial) ¿eh? (es), (Mexico, colloquial) ¿mande? (es)
• Swedish: ursäkta (sv), förlåt (sv)
• Turkish: pardon (tr)?, efendim (tr)
• Ukrainian: про́шу? (próšu?), що? (uk) (ščo?) (informal), що-що? (ščo-ščo?) (informal)
• Urdu: جی؟ (jī?), کیا؟ (kyā?) (informal)
• Walloon: kimint djhoz? (ordinary and polite), kimint diss? (familiar), cwè (wa)? (colloquial), pardon (wa)? (formal)

to correct oneself in speech

• Finnish: tarkoitan, siis (fi)
• French: pardon (fr), désolé (fr)
• Korean: 아니 (ko) (ani) (informal, casual), 아니요 (ko) (aniyo) (polite, informal)

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

Translations to be checked

• Fijian: ^{(please verify)} vosota sara
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} mi dispiace
• Lithuanian: ^{(please verify)} atsiprašau (lt)
• Sundanese: ^{(please verify)} punten
• Tagalog: (informal) ^{(please verify)} pasensiya na, (formal) ^{(please verify)} pasensiya na po, (for adjective, 2) ^{(please verify)} sira (tl) (southern) ^{(please verify)} paumanhin (tl)
• Tamil: ^{(please verify)} மன்னிக்கவும் (maṉṉikkavum)
• Welsh: ^{(please verify)} mae'n flin gen i, ^{(please verify)} mae'n ddrwg gen i

Noun

sorry (plural sorries or sorrys)

1. 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

act of saying sorry

• Afrikaans: verskoning vra
• Finnish: anteeksipyyntö (fi), pahoittelu (fi)
• Greek: συγγνώμη (el) f (syngnómi)
• Italian: scuse (it) f pl
• Korean: 사과 (ko) (sagwa)
• Persian: پوزش (fa) (puzeš)
• Polish: przeprosić (pl) pf, przepraszać (pl) impf
• Swedish: förlåt (sv) n, ursäkt (sv) c

Related terms

• sorrow
• sorrowful

Further reading

• “sorry”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “sorry”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Chinese

Etymology

From English sorry.

Pronunciation

---

• Cantonese: IPA^(key): /sɔ⁵⁵ ɹi²¹/, /sɔ⁵⁵ li²¹/, /sɔ⁵⁵ wi²¹/

Interjection

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, Singapore Hokkien, Penang Hokkien, colloquial) sorry

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 對不起 (“sorry”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		對不起
Mandarin	Beijing	對不起
	Taiwan	對不起
	Malaysia	對不起
	Singapore	對不起
Cantonese	Guangzhou	對唔住
	Hong Kong	對唔住, sorry, sor informal
	Taishan	對唔住
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	對唔住
	Singapore (Guangfu)	對唔住
Hakka	Meixian	對唔住
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	失禮, 敗勢, 斯里麻生
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	失禮, 壞勢, 斯里麻生
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	失禮, 敗勢, 斯里麻生
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	失禮, 敗勢, 歪勢, 斯里麻生
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	失禮, 敗勢, 斯里麻生
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	失禮, 歹勢, 斯里麻生
	Singapore (Dabu)	敗勢
Jin	Taiyuan	對不起
Eastern Min	Matsu	對不住
Southern Min	Xiamen	歹勢, 對不住, 失禮
	Quanzhou	歹勢, 對不住
	Zhangzhou	䆀勢, 對不住
	Taipei	失禮, 歹勢
	New Taipei (Sanxia)	失禮
	Kaohsiung	失禮, 歹勢
	Yilan	失禮
	Changhua (Lukang)	失禮, 歹勢
	Taichung	失禮
	Taichung (Wuqi)	失禮
	Tainan	失禮, 歹勢
	Taitung	歹勢
	Hsinchu	失禮
	Kinmen	失禮
	Penghu (Magong)	失禮
	Penang (Hokkien)	歹勢, sorry
	Singapore (Hokkien)	歹勢, 對毋住, sorry
	Manila (Hokkien)	歹勢, 對不住
	Chaozhou	對唔住
	Shantou	對唔住
	Singapore (Teochew)	對唔住, 歹勢
Wu	Shanghai	勿好意思, 對勿起
	Suzhou	對弗起
	Haining (Xiashi)	對勿住
	Ningbo	交代勿過, 勿好意思
Xiang	Changsha	對不住

Czech

Etymology

Derived from English sorry.

Interjection

sorry

1. (informal) sorry (I apologize)

   Synonym: See also pardon

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English sorry.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɔ.ri/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sor‧ry

Interjection

sorry

1. 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.

2. 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^(key): /ˈzɔʁi/, /ˈsɔri/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sor‧ry

Interjection

sorry

1. (colloquial) sorry (expressing regret)

   Synonym: Entschuldigung

   • 2020 December 24, Bernd Ulrich, “Das Jahr, in dem die Normalität zu Ende ging”, in Die Zeit‎^[2]:

     […] 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

1. Alternative form of sorre

Etymology 2

From Old English sāriġ.

Noun

sorry

1. (Late ME) Alternative form of sory

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English sorry.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɔ.rɨ/
• Rhymes: -ɔrɨ
• Syllabification: so‧rry

Interjection

sorry

1. (informal) sorry! (expressing regret)

   Synonym: przepraszam

Further reading

• sorry in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English sorry.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsori/ [ˈso.ri]
• Rhymes: -ori
• Syllabification: so‧rry

Interjection

sorry

1. (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

1. (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^(key): /sɔˈɾiː/

Noun

sorry

1. 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