woebegone
UK /ˈwəʊbɪɡɒn/ · US /ˈwoʊbiˌɡɔn/ adjective, noun
Forms woebegones
- adjective Of a person: deeply affected or overwhelmed by suffering or trouble, and so filled with woe (“great distress or sadness”); (loosely) forlorn, sad, unhappy.
- adjective Of a person or thing: having a distressed, miserable, or sad appearance.
- adjective Of a thing: in a deplorable state.
- noun A person who is deeply affected or overwhelmed by suffering or trouble, and so filled with woe.
Synonyms
lamentable atrabiliary atrabilious blitheless dispirited blue bummed out chapfallen cheerless chopfallen crestfallen cut up damp dejected depressed despondent disgruntled disconsolate disheartened dismal creaky decrepit derelict flea-bitten run-down woeful
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.”), from Proto-West Germanic *bigān, from *bi- (from Proto-Germanic *bi- (prefix meaning ‘at; by’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁épi (“at; near; on”)) + *gān (“to go”) (from Proto-Germanic *gāną (“to go; to walk”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- (“to go; to reach; to abandon, leave”)).
By surface analysis, woe + begone (the past participle form of bego (“(obsolete) to affect”)).
Noun sense 1 (“person who is deeply affected or overwhelmed by suffering or trouble, and so filled with woe”) became obsolete after the 14th or 15th century, and was only revived in the 19th century.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “woebegone”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details