What's the difference between regret and sorry?

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.

Sorry


Definition:

  • (a.) 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.
  • (a.) Melancholy; dismal; gloomy; mournful.
  • (a.) Poor; mean; worthless; as, a sorry excuse.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) I’m very sorry.” Who is Billy Bush: the man egging on Trump in tape about groping women Read more Trump and Bush had been on a bus headed to the set of the soap opera Days of Our Lives, in which Trump was set to make a cameo.
  • (2) Israel’s president has told his Mexican counterpart that he was “sorry for the hurt” over a tweet in which the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, appeared to praise Donald Trump’s plans to build a wall on the US-Mexican border.
  • (3) Leicester looked a little sorry for themselves and, with their concentration down, United twisted the knife.
  • (4) If I go back to 1995 – and some started earlier, some a little later, but let’s take that as ground zero – I think we’re all sorry.
  • (5) We had a brief conversation and I said to him he was acting from high honour here, and I said how sorry I was this wasn’t happening in three or four years time..because Barry is a man of honour..and I think he is a very capable premier and I think he has been missed.” Asked whether he had ever met Nick di Girolamo , the prime minister said both he and Mr di Girolamo attended a lot of functions, and “I don’t for a moment say I have never met him but I don’t recall it.” But former federal Liberal MP Ross Cameron sounded much more sceptical about O’Farrell’s memory lapse when speaking to Sky News.
  • (6) I say ‘fuck sorry.’” Rudd, who addressed a breakfast in Sydney to mark the anniversary, said words must be followed up with actions.
  • (7) I’ve seen Ukip both at home and abroad, and I’m sorry to say they’re pretty amateur.
  • (8) But the sorry state of the economy is clearly the main worry.
  • (9) "I almost feel sorry for them," said Pauline Corton, who was checking out Radley bags in the County Arcade with 20%, 30% and 50% off.
  • (10) "We are very sorry if customers have not received their baggage and we will reunite them as quickly as possible."
  • (11) I used to go to meetings and people would say sorry about all the problems and the denialist president.
  • (12) Hermens went on to say that Aregawi “feels really sorry for all the people that she has let down in Sweden”.
  • (13) Every time I hear that someone has been injured by a bomb on the ground I feel very sorry.
  • (14) "In a way I feel sorry for him and I think he needs some sort of counselling as it is obviously very odd behaviour.
  • (15) I’m desperately sorry, says head who hired paedophile William Vahey Read more Investigators in the UK have already established that while Vahey was teaching in London from 2009 to 2013, teachers on four different trips reported his suspicious behaviour with pupils to the school.
  • (16) But while the imprisoned activists and their supporters are fervently hoping that the Queen of Pop will use her Russian platform (Olimpiyskiy stadium, which is a pretty big one) to make a strong statement in their support, so far all she's been able to muster in public is a remark that she's "sorry that they've been arrested".
  • (17) The Jedwabne massacre and Kaminski's line that "Jews should say sorry for killing Poles" during the second world war is by far the most important of the many contentious issues on this man.
  • (18) André Villas-Boas Villas-Boas was only 33 when he won the Europa League with Porto Gianluca Vialli Sven-Göran Eriksson Pep Guardiola You got… Perfection You hero You star You've done very well there You've done well there You've done OK there Sorry to break it to you but that's a bad score Come on.
  • (19) It is convention that private conversations with the queen should be kept off the record, and Cameron later said he was embarrassed and sorry about the incident.
  • (20) DN: Sorry, Julia, but depression is still – as you may know from the recent report from the European Brain Council, of which I'm vice president – the largest cause of disability in Europe.