woebegone means of a person: deeply affected or overwhelmed by suffering or trouble, and so filled with woe (“great distress or sadness”); (loosely) forlorn, sad, unhappy. It carries an Arena rating of 1689, earned across 7 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, woebegone ranks #2,337 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #2,385 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #2,999 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #3,727 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words.
woebegone is pronounced /ˈwəʊbɪɡɒn/.
Why “woebegone” is a great word
Filled with or deeply affected by woe; appearing sorrowful or miserable. From Middle English *wo-bigon* (c. 1300), from Old English *wābegān*, from *wā* ("woe") + *begān* ("to beset, to surround"). Unlike "melancholy," which suggests a pensive, enduring sadness, or "dejected," which focuses on low spirits, woebegone implies being visibly overcome, surrounded by grief. It is the sodden slump of a dog in the rain, the hollowed eyes in a face unwashed for days, the traveler drenched and shivering at dawn—the outward architecture of a soul completely occupied by sorrow, a testament not just to feeling, but to having been weathered.
Etymology
From Middle English wo-bigon, wo-begon (“(adjective) deeply affected by woe, distressed, sorrowful, wretched; affected by physical impairment or pain; tired, weary; abominable, cursed; (noun) unfortunate person, wretch”), from wo (“distress, misery, woe; physical pain or suffering; etc.”) + bigon (the past participle form of bigon (“of a state: to come upon or overtake (someone), beset, overwhelm, bego; of a person: to be overwhelmed by grief, etc.”)): * wo is derived from Old English wā (“woe”), from Proto-West Germanic *wai (“woe!”, interjection), from Proto-Germanic *wai (“woe!”, interjection), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wáy (“ah!, oh!; alas!, woe!”, interjection). * bigon is derived from Old English begān (“to go over, traverse; to beset, surround; to occupy; to overrun; etc.
adj
- Of a person: deeply affected or overwhelmed by suffering or trouble, and so filled with woe (“great distress or sadness”); (loosely) forlorn, sad, unhappy.
- Of a person or thing: having a distressed, miserable, or sad appearance.
- Of a thing: in a deplorable state.e.g.“The 44-year-old [Mikhail] Prokhorov, the second-richest man in Russia, is expected to assume control of the woebegone Nets within the next few weeks.” — 2010 April 27, Howard Beck, “Russian billionaire is white knight for the Nets”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 Jan 20
noun
- A person who is deeply affected or overwhelmed by suffering or trouble, and so filled with woe.e.g.“Near-synonym: (chiefly US, informal) sad sack”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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