woe

Meanings

1. 1noununcountableliterary

   A feeling of deep sadness or suffering, often caused by trouble or loss.

   Grammar: Used without 'a' or a plural when talking about the feeling in general: a life full of woe.

   Patterns

   • a tale of woe
   • a life of woe
   • cry of woe

   The old song tells a story of love and woe.

   After the flood, the villagers spoke of their woe with quiet dignity.

   There was a note of woe in her voice as she described the lost harvest.

2. 2nouncountable

   A problem or trouble that causes suffering or difficulty.

   Grammar: Often used in the plural 'woes' to talk about several problems: financial woes, health woes.

   Patterns

   • financial woes
   • economic woes
   • the woes of something

   The company's financial woes continued after the new manager arrived.

   She listed her woes: a broken car, a lost job, and a leaking roof.

   The report describes the woes of the health system in rural areas.

Word forms

Common combinations

a tale of woe

He told us a long tale of woe about his journey.

financial woes

The airline's financial woes led to job cuts.

woe is me

'Woe is me,' she sighed, looking at the mess.

add to someone's woes

The bad weather added to the farmers' woes.

Synonyms and how they differ

sorrow

Sorrow is a more general, slightly formal word for sadness; woe is stronger and often suggests deep, lasting suffering.

misery

Misery emphasizes ongoing unhappiness and hardship; woe can also refer to a single cause of trouble.

distress

Distress is the emotional pain itself, often in a specific situation; woe is broader and more literary.

Opposites

Word family

woeful adjective

Very sad or of very poor quality.

woefully adverb

In a way that shows sadness or is very inadequate.

Commonly confused: woe or whoa?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “woe”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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