sorriness
nounEtymology From Middle English sorinesse, from Old English sāriġnes, from Proto-West Germanic *sairaganassī, *sairīganassī; equivalent to sorry + -ness. Cognate with West Frisian searigens (“soreness, tenderness”).
1
The state or quality of being sorry; regret.
2
Worthlessness; wretchedness.
- His friend, Mr. Smith, thought that "a sorry farmer on a sorry farm is a sorry sight." Bill hardly attained that level of sorriness.1967, Shields McIlwaine, The Southern Poor-white from Lubberland to Tobacco Road: