Woe

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /wəʊ/
• US enPR: wō, IPA: /woÊŠ/
• Rhymes: -əʊ
• Homophones: whoa (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Origin

From Middle English wo, wei, wa, from Old English wā, wēa, from Proto-Germanic *wai, whence also Dutch wee, German weh, Danish ve, Yiddish וויי. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wai. Compare Latin vae.

Full definition of woe

Noun

1. grief; sorrow; misery; heavy calamity.
• MiltonThus saying, from her side the fatal key,
  Sad instrument of all our woe, she took.
• Alexander PopeThey weep each other's woe.
2. A curse; a malediction.
• SouthCan there be a woe or curse in all the stores of vengeance equal to the malignity of such a practice?

Derived terms

• in weal or woe
• woeful
• woe is me

Adjective

1. (obsolete) woeful; sorrowful
• Robert of BrunneHis clerk was woe to do that deed.
• ChaucerWoe was this knight and sorrowfully he sighed.
• SpenserAnd looking up he waxed wondrous woe.

Anagrams

• owe