regretful
adjective
regretful is spelled R-E-G-R-E-T-F-U-L: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,949th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, regretful means “Full of feelings of regret, indulging in regrets” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in regretful?
| Letters | 9: R-E-G-R-E-T-F-U-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 49,949th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is regretful?
Regretful appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,949th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce regretful?
- General-American
Regretful has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-regretful.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-regretful.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of regretful
- more regretful comparative
- most regretful superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does regretful mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Full of feelings of regret, indulging in regrets.
- 2
Sorrowful about what has been lost or done.
feel bitterly regretful
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Regretful in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense full of regret:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | bedauernd, reuevoll |
| Portuguese | arrependido |
| Spanish | arrepentido |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does regretful come from?
From regret + -ful.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).