deplore means to bewail; to weep bitterly over; to feel sorrow for. It carries an Arena rating of 1742, earned across 178 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, deplore ranks #1,373 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #1,985 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #3,028 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #3,245 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
deplore is pronounced /dɪˈploɹ/.
Why “deplore” is a great word
DEPLORE — [Verb] To express strong disapproval of or deep regret for something, often on moral grounds. From Middle French déplorer, from Latin dēplōrāre ("to lament over, bewail"), from dē- (expressing completeness) + plōrāre ("to wail, weep aloud"). First attested in English c. 1550s. Unlike lament, which dwells in private grief, or condemn, which delivers a judicial verdict, to deplore is to wed sorrow to a public, ethical indictment. It is the editor's sigh over a preventable tragedy, the cold weight in the stomach upon reading of needless cruelty, the weary gaze upon a vandalized square—a civilized heart's last, lonely protest against a world it cannot accept.
Etymology
From Middle French déplorer, from Old French deplorer, from Latin dēplōrāre (“to lament over, bewail”), from dē- + plōrāre (“to wail, weep aloud”); origin uncertain.
verb
- To bewail; to weep bitterly over; to feel sorrow for.e.g.“I deplore my neighbour for having lost his job.”
- To condemn; to express strong disapproval of.e.g.“I deplore how you treated him at the party.”
- To regard as hopeless; to give up.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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