Sorry
(Sor"ry) a. [Compar. Sorrier ; superl. Sorriest.] [OE. sory, sary, AS. sarig, fr. sar, n., sore.
See Sore, n. & a. The original sense was, painful; hence, miserable, sad.]
1. Grieved for the loss of some good; pained for some evil; feeling regret; — now generally used to express
light grief or affliction, but formerly often used to express deeper feeling. "I am sorry for my sins." Piers
Plowman.
Ye were made sorry after a godly manner.
2 Cor. vii. 9.
I am sorry for thee, friend; 't is the duke's pleasure.
Shak.
She entered, were he lief or sorry.
Spenser. 2. Melancholy; dismal; gloomy; mournful. Spenser.
All full of chirking was this sorry place.
Chaucer. 3. Poor; mean; worthless; as, a sorry excuse. "With sorry grace." Chaucer.
Cheeks of sorry grain will serve.
Milton.
Good fruit will sometimes grow on a sorry tree.
Sir W. Scott. Syn. — Hurt; afflicted; mortified; vexed; chagrined; melancholy; dismal; poor; mean; pitiful.