English Explanatory Dictionary

woe is me

English dictionary entry

Meanings

intj
  1. Used to show that the speaker feels distress or misery; humorous use usually also signals self-awareness regarding excessive self-pity.

Pronunciation

/ˌwəʊ ɪz ˈmiː/ /ˌwoʊ ɪz ˈmi/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-woe is me.wav

Word forms

woe is me woe is I

Etymology

Here, the oblique pronoun me denotes not an informal copulative complement (as in this is me), but an indirect object, wherefore it literally means woe is to me, an obsolete way of saying I feel woe; compare German mir ist traurig (“I feel sad”, literally “to-me [it] is sad”). Idiomatically, it means woe is upon me. See also German weh ist mir and its descendant, Yiddish וויי איז מיר (vey iz mir), which are identical in form and meaning to the English expression.

Synonyms

ah me alack alackaday alas hey ho oh dear oh well pity shame too bad what a pity what a shame woe is me

Antonyms

yay

Related words

sad weep dammit!
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