(regrets, regretting, regretted)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
If you regret something that you have done, you wish that you had not done it.
I simply gave in to him, and I've regretted it ever since...
Ellis seemed to be regretting that he had asked the question...
Five years later she regrets having given up her home.
VERB: V n, V that, V -ing
2.
Regret is a feeling of sadness or disappointment, which is caused by something that has happened or something that you have done or not done.
Lillee said he had no regrets about retiring.
N-VAR
3.
You can say that you regret something as a polite way of saying that you are sorry about it. You use expressions such as I regret to say or I regret to inform you to show that you are sorry about something.
'I very much regret the injuries he sustained,' he said...
I regret that the United States has added its voice to such protests...
Her lack of co-operation is nothing new, I regret to say...
VERB: V n, V that, V to-inf [politeness]
4.
If someone expresses regret about something, they say that they are sorry about it. (FORMAL)
He expressed great regret and said that surgeons would attempt to reverse the operation...
She has accepted his resignation with regret.
N-UNCOUNT