Meaning & use
feel remorse
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Meanings
phraseidiom
to experience deep sadness and regret for something wrong you have done.
Grammar: Used with 'for' + the action or event, not with a person as the object: feel remorse for lying.
Patterns
- feel remorse for something
- feel remorse about something
- feel remorse at having done something
She felt remorse for the way she had treated him.
He never felt remorse about the money he took.
After the argument, Maria felt remorse for her cruel words.
phraseidiomformal
to be sorry in a formal, serious way that shows you accept blame.
Grammar: Often used in legal or written contexts: the defendant felt remorse for his crimes.
Patterns
- feel remorse for a crime
- show remorse for something
The court heard that he felt remorse for his actions.
She spoke quietly, saying she felt remorse for the harm caused.
Common combinations
- feel remorse for something
- He felt remorse for the accident he had caused.
- feel deep remorse
- She felt deep remorse after betraying her friend.
- show remorse
- The prisoner showed remorse for his past crimes.
- feel remorse about something
- I still feel remorse about leaving the project unfinished.
Synonyms and how they differ
- regret
- Regret is more general and can be used for small things like a choice; remorse is stronger and suggests guilt for doing something wrong.
- feel guilty
- Feel guilty is more everyday and focuses on the feeling of guilt; feel remorse is more formal and focuses on the sorrow itself.
- be contrite
- Be contrite is even more formal and means showing you are sorry in a humble way; feel remorse is about the inner feeling.
Opposites
Word family
- remorseful adjective
- Feeling or showing remorse.
- remorsefully adverb
- In a way that shows remorse.
- remorseless adjective
- Without any remorse; cruel and unrelenting.
Commonly confused: feel remorse or remorse?
feel remorse vs remorse
Remorse is the noun; 'feel remorse' is the phrase. Don't say 'feel remorseful' when you mean the action—use 'feel remorseful' only if you mean the adjective.
Practice
Complete the sentence: She felt remorse ______ the way she had spoken to her mother.
Choose one answer.
'Feel remorse for' is the most common and natural preposition when you regret an action. 'About' is possible but less common and sounds more general; 'at' is used with 'remorse' in some formal phrases but not with 'feel'; 'with' does not fit here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “feel remorse”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.