Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - sorry

(sorrier, sorriest) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. You say ‘Sorry’ or ‘I’m sorry’ as a way of apologizing to someone for something that you have done which has upset them or caused them difficulties, or when you bump into them accidentally. ‘We’re all talking at the same time.’—‘Yeah. Sorry.’... Sorry I took so long... Sorry for barging in like this... I’m really sorry if I said anything wrong... I’m sorry to call so late, but I need a favour... The next morning she came into my room and said she was sorry. CONVENTION c darkgreen]formulae 2. If you are sorry about a situation, you feel regret, sadness, or disappointment about it. She was very sorry about all the trouble she’d caused... I’m sorry about what’s happened... I’m sorry he’s gone... He was sorry to see them go. ADJ: v-link ADJ, usu ADJ about n, ADJ that/to-inf 3. You use I’m sorry or sorry as an introduction when you are telling a person something that you do not think they will want to hear, for example when you are disagreeing with them or giving them bad news. No, I’m sorry, I can’t agree with you... ‘I’m sorry,’ he told the real estate agent, ‘but we really must go now.’... Sorry–no baths after ten o’clock... I’m sorry to have to tell you that Janet West is dead. CONVENTION 4. You use the expression I’m sorry to say to express regret together with disappointment or disapproval. I’ve only done half of it, I’m sorry to say... This, I am sorry to say, is almost entirely wishful thinking. PHRASE: PHR with cl, PHR that c darkgreen]feelings 5. You say ‘I’m sorry’ to express your regret and sadness when you hear sad or unpleasant news. I’ve heard about Mollie–I’m so sorry... ‘I’m afraid he’s ill.’—‘I’m sorry to hear that.’ CONVENTION c darkgreen]feelings 6. If you feel sorry for someone who is unhappy or in an unpleasant situation, you feel sympathy and sadness for them. I felt sorry for him and his colleagues–it must have been so frustrating for them... I am very sorry for the family. ADJ: v-link ADJ for n 7. You say that someone is feeling sorry for themselves when you disapprove of the fact that they keep thinking unhappily about their problems, rather than trying to be cheerful and positive. What he must not do is to sit around at home feeling sorry for himself. ADJ: v-link ADJ for pron-refl c darkgreen]disapproval 8. You say ‘Sorry?’ when you have not heard something that someone has said and you want them to repeat it. = pardon, excuse me CONVENTION c darkgreen]formulae 9. You use sorry when you correct yourself and use different words to say what you have just said, especially when what you say the second time does not use the words you would normally choose to use. Barcelona will be hoping to bring the trophy back to Spain–sorry, Catalonia–for the first time. CONVENTION 10. If someone or something is in a sorry state, they are in a bad state, mentally or physically. The fire left Kuwait’s oil industry in a sorry state... ADJ: ADJ n 11. better safe than sorry: see safe