What does "woe" mean?
Woe: A curse; a malediction. Can there be a woe or curse in all the stores of vengeance equal to the malignity of such a practice South. Note: Woe is used in denunciation, and in exclamations of sorrow. " Woe is me! for I am undone." Isa. vi.
Additional senses
- 2.O! woe were us alive [i.e., in life]. Chaucer. Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Isa. xlv.
- 3.Woe worth, Woe be to. See Worth, v. i. Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day, That costs thy life, my gallant gray! Sir W. Scott.
- 4.Woeful; sorrowful. [Obs.] His clerk was woe to do that deed. Robert of Brunne. Woe was this knight and sorrowfully he sighed. Chaucer. And looking up he waxed wondrous woe. Spenser.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00