- literary intense grief or misery
- (often plural) affliction or misfortune
- woe betide someone ⇒ misfortune will befall someone: woe betide you if you arrive late
- Also: woe is me archaic an exclamation of sorrow or distress
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2024
woe /woʊ/USA pronunciation
n.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2024- great distress or trouble:[uncountable]a life of woe.
- a cause of such distress or trouble;
an affliction:[countable]the woes of life.
woe
(wō),USA pronunciation n.
interj.
- grievous distress, affliction, or trouble:His woe was almost beyond description.
- an affliction:She suffered a fall, among her other woes.
interj.
- an exclamation of grief, distress, or lamentation.
- bef. 900; Middle English wo (interj. and noun, nominal), Old English wā (interj.) (compare wellaway); cognate with Dutch wee, German Weh, Old Norse vei, Latin vae
- 1.See corresponding entry in Unabridged anguish, tribulation, trial, wretchedness, melancholy. See sorrow.
- 1.See corresponding entry in Unabridged joy.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
woe /wəʊ/ n
'woe' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):