HomeServicesBlogDictionariesContactSpanish Course
← Back to search

Meaning of Woe | Babel Free

Noun CEFR C2 Standard
wəʊ

Definitions

  1. Great sadness or distress; a misfortune causing such sadness.
    countable, uncountable
  2. Calamity, trouble.
    countable, uncountable
  3. A curse; a malediction.
    countable, uncountable

Equivalents

العربية المشكلة حزن وا ويل
Български беда скръб
Bosanski beda pena strast беда
Čeština běda hoře strast trápení
Deutsch Jammer Kummer Leid Weh
Ελληνικά θλίψη Ουάι συμφορά φευ
Esperanto ve
Español ay congoja infortunio mal pena
فارسی وای
Suomi suru tuska voi
Français douleur hélas malheur misère tristesse
Gàidhlig dòlas truaighe
Galego ai mágoa
Hrvatski beda pena strast беда
Italiano ahimè disgrazia dolore guaio ohimè
日本語 ああ あたら 悲痛
Kurdî ay bêda bêda keder mal pena ve weh
Latina dolor eheu heu lūctus vae
Te Reo Māori aitu
Nederlands droefheid ellende lijden ongeluk
Српски beda pena strast беда
Svenska sorg ve
Українська грижа
Tiếng Việt khôn

Examples

“Oh, woe is me!”
“Thus saying, from her side the fatal key, / Sad instrument of all our woe, she took.”
“Soon as thy letters trembling I unclose / That well-known name awakens all my woes.”
“But if there was a competition between a ſick family and a new broach, the broach was ſure to carry the day. This would not have been the caſe, had they been habituated to viſit themſelves the abodes of penury and woe.”
“The Friday night rains which wrecked families in Kurabarahalli saw all the three major political parties making a beeline to express their condolences, listen to their woes and provide compensation in the hope of garnering their goodwill ahead of the 2018 assembly elections.”
“And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!”
“Don't let the little woes of life harm you / Let the joy in the life you lead / Let it charm you / Let it charm you now”
“Can there be a woe or curse in all the stores of vengeance equal to the malignity of such a practice?”

CEFR level

C2
Mastery
This word is part of the CEFR C2 vocabulary — mastery level.
See all C2 English words →

See also

Learn this word in context

See Woe used in real conversations inside our free language course.

Start Free Course

Know this word better than we do? Language is a living thing — help us keep it growing. Collaborate with Babel Free