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adj

woebegone

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Woebegone (adj) means describing a person weighed down by suffering or hardship and full of woe, meaning great distress or sadness; more loosely, forlorn, sad, or unhappy.

adj
1
Describing a person weighed down by suffering or hardship and full of woe, meaning great distress or sadness; more loosely, forlorn, sad, or unhappy.
"When he was finished, as such, he was wringing wet, and now he had to edge and shimmy his way back, and with a most woebegone look, and everybody laughing, except the sad blond boy, and the Minnesotans roaring in the cab." — Jack Kerouac, On the Road (1957)
"The woebegone children have their aspirations slowly snuffed. Grace’s artistic dreams (of animation, of course) are punctured by her isolated existence; Gilbert’s pyrophilia is smothered by religious extremism." — Jacob Oller, Clay weepy Memoir Of A Snail crawls through a gauntlet of misery (2024)
2
Looking unhappy, miserable, or in a poor state.
3
Describes something that is in a very bad or neglected condition.
"The 44-year-old Prokhorov, the second-richest man in Russia, is expected to assume control of the woebegone Nets within the next few weeks." — Howard Beck, Russian Billionaire Is White Knight for the Nets (2010)
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Etymology

From Middle English wo-bigon, wo-begon (“(adjective) deeply affected by woe, distressed, sorrowful, wretched; affected by physical impairment or pain; tired, weary; abominable, cursed; (noun) unfortunate person, wretch”), from wo (“distress, misery, woe; physical pain or suffering; etc.”) + bigon (the past participle form of bigon (“of a state: to come upon or overtake (someone), beset, overwhelm, bego; of a person: to be overwhelmed by grief, etc.”)): * wo is derived from Old English wā (“woe”), from Proto-West Germanic *wai (“woe!”, interjection), from Proto-Germanic *wai (“woe!”, interjection), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wáy (“ah!, oh!; alas!, woe!”, interjection). * bigon is derived from Old English begān (“to go over, traverse; to beset, surround; to occupy; to overrun; etc.”), from Proto-West Germanic *bigān, from *bi- (from Proto-Germanic *bi- (prefix meaning ‘at; by’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁épi (“at; near; on”)) + *gān (“to go”) (from Proto-Germanic *gāną (“to go; to walk”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- (“to go; to reach; to abandon, leave”)). By surface analysis, woe + begone (the past participle form of bego (“(obsolete) to affect”)). Noun s

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Frequently asked questions

What is the meaning of woebegone?
"woebegone" (adj) means describing a person weighed down by suffering or hardship and full of woe, meaning great distress or sadness; more loosely, forlorn, sad, or unhappy.
What is another word for woebegone?
Other words for "woebegone" include woeful, creaky, decrepit, derelict.
What is the opposite of woebegone?
The opposite of "woebegone" is happy.
What are the different meanings of woebegone?
"woebegone" has 3 main meanings: 1. Describing a person weighed down by suffering or hardship and full of woe, meaning great distress or sadness; more loosely, forlorn, sad, or unhappy; 2. Looking unhappy, miserable, or in a poor state; 3. Describes something that is in a very bad or neglected condition.

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