What's the difference between apologize and regret?

Apologize


Definition:

  • (v. i.) To make an apology or defense.
  • (v. i.) To make an apology or excuse; to make acknowledgment of some fault or offense, with expression of regret for it, by way of amends; -- with for; as, my correspondent apologized for not answering my letter.
  • (v. t.) To defend.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) I said: ‘Apologies for doing this publicly, but I did try to get a meeting with you, and I couldn’t even get a reply.’ And then I had a massive go at him – about everything really, from poverty to uni fees to NHS waiting times.” She giggles again.
  • (2) It took more than three decades before an apology of any kind was forthcoming from the Met.
  • (3) Corbyn’s planned apology attempts to pre-empt the findings of the long-delayed Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war.
  • (4) And as for this job, well, not that I have a choice but … fuck it, I quit.” A stunned colleague then told viewers: “All right we apologise for that … we’ll, we’ll be right back.” The station later apologised to viewers on Twitter: KTVA 11 News (@ktva) Viewers, we sincerely apologize for the inappropriate language used by a KTVA reporter on the air tonight.
  • (5) However, LaBoeuf's subsequent apologies were themselves discovered to have been copied from other sources ; his quoting of Cantona's lines are entirely true to form.
  • (6) Last week, Park offered a public apology after acknowledging Choi had edited some of her speeches and provided help with public relations, but South Korea’s media have speculated Choi played a much larger, secret role in government affairs.
  • (7) Balls immediately called for an apology from Osborne for the "totally false" allegations.
  • (8) But he makes no apologies for seeking the limelight.
  • (9) Speaking on the BBC's World at One, Carlile also revealed that Rennard had held back from officially sending his apology until after the elections had finished so as not to damage the party's chances.
  • (10) On Thursday, North Korea's Olympic team accepted repeated apologies.
  • (11) The form and timing of the apology will be agreed by the trust's committee.
  • (12) Regression analyses suggested that such aggression-inhibitory effects of an apology were mediated by impression improvement, emotional mitigation, and reduction in desire for an apology within the victims.
  • (13) The majority of EU delegations are willing to make a compromise on an apology, but some are still unable to accept this."
  • (14) A Liberal Democrat MP who likened the atrocities against Palestinians by "the Jews" to the Holocaust has made a public apology in the face of widespread anger.
  • (15) On Thursday Belhaj met with British government representatives, who declined to make any apology.
  • (16) It then sought to change the story with those clever, but frankly odd,, half-poetic public apologies.
  • (17) As Tories demanded a personal apology from the prime minister, the former home secretary Charles Clarke said the position of Draper should be "looked at" along with that of Charlie Whelan, once a key Brown adviser, who was copied in on the email exchange.
  • (18) (Hodge is privately wealthy, and owns shares in Stemcor, the hugely successful steel business started by her father; she denies that the company avoids paying tax, and demanded and received an apology from the Daily Telegraph when it suggested this was the case.)
  • (19) Hazard was assumed to have avoided criminal charges when the matter was dropped after he and the teenager met and made mutual apologies.
  • (20) And I am issuing an apology and correction on my website immediately for having made this comment about the beautiful city of Birmingham.

Regret


Definition:

  • (v.) Pain of mind on account of something done or experienced in the past, with a wish that it had been different; a looking back with dissatisfaction or with longing; grief; sorrow; especially, a mourning on account of the loss of some joy, advantage, or satisfaction.
  • (v.) Dislike; aversion.
  • (v. t.) To experience regret on account of; to lose or miss with a sense of regret; to feel sorrow or dissatisfaction on account of (the happening or the loss of something); as, to regret an error; to regret lost opportunities or friends.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) "We absolutely regret the setbacks Kim Dotcom has had since MegaUpload was taken offline, but we hope he as an entrepreneur will understand our side of the story and the decisions deliberately taken."
  • (2) Whilst we deeply regret all these incidents and acknowledge that the care of these patients could have been better, this is a relatively low number of incidents for a hospital of this size,” it said in a statement.
  • (3) The local MP, Rory Stewart, a mover and shaker on the broadband project, told me that he was desperate to get telehealth into Cumbria, but regretfully felt that it was not immediately doable, because the local council and healthcare community did not yet have the necessary expertise.
  • (4) An innovative approach to treatment planning is described in which a planned dose distribution is evaluated in terms of prescribed limits of acceptability, and any discrepancies (referred to as "regions of regret") are displayed in the form of a contour diagram in which colors are used to represent different types and degrees of regret.
  • (5) The allegations come weeks after Top Gear executives expressed regret over a remark made by Clarkson on the show's Burma special, broadcast in March.
  • (6) We deeply regret any instance which led to the Financial Ombudsman Service receiving incorrect or incomplete information from us.” Clydesdale is now reviewing all PPI complaints handled before August 2014 and will pay redress to any affected customers.
  • (7) The other example is of a woman who had a child who died at the age of 10 and expressed no regrets, but when questioned about whether she would have continued a pregnancy knowingly aware the baby would die in 10 years, the woman replied that she could not imagine how anyone could be so strong as to bear a child knowing the brevity of its life.
  • (8) She insists she has no regrets about dedicating herself to the man millions admired but few really got to know.
  • (9) Of the 28 parents who did not see the body, 17 subsequently stated their regret.
  • (10) In the prime minister's reply, he said it was with "enormous regret that I accept your resignation as the member of parliament for Corby and East Northamptonshire, a seat that had been Labour for 13 years before you.
  • (11) "We regret that Congress was forced to waste its time voting on a foolish bill that was premised entirely on false claims and ignorance," David Jenkins, an REP official, said in a statement.
  • (12) "We regret this decision by the Russian government," a senior Obama administration official said.
  • (13) These cases may represent a small percentage of the many sterilization operations that are performed each year, yet the fact that tubal sterilization is performed primarily on fit young women for "nonmedical" reasons makes it all the more important that women who will come to regret the procedure are identified and advised against it.
  • (14) "I regret that these things which are speculative and are not signed off on should be the source of discussion in other quarters."
  • (15) A woman accused of being the only surviving member of a murderous German neo-Nazi cell that remained undetected for over a decade, has broken her silence for the first time telling a court she was not involved in the planning or carrying out of the attacks but that she regretted failing to prevent them.
  • (16) "There was clearly inappropriate behaviour by some of the other guests and I deeply regret that this happened.
  • (17) The pair’s barrister, Charanjit Jutla, said both men were of good character and deeply regretted their conduct.
  • (18) He pointed out that Labour had not introduced such a radical examination in 1997, something he now regretted.
  • (19) Stewart surely sees himself as a ­future minister, though he regrets telling one journalist he wanted to be.
  • (20) Rupert Murdoch has said he regrets that his papers have turned against prime minister Gordon Brown – but believes they are right to do so.