Sorry \Sor"ry\, a. [Compar. Sorrier; superl. Sorriest.]

[OE. sory, sary, AS. s[=a]rig, fr. s[=a]r, n., sore. See Sore, n. & a. The original sense was, painful; hence. miserable, sad.]

1. Grieved for the loss of some good; pained for some evil; feeling regret; -- now generally used to express light grief or affliction, but formerly often used to express deeper feeling. ``I am sorry for my sins.'' --Piers Plowman.

Ye were made sorry after a godly manner. --2 Cor. vii. 9.

I am sorry for thee, friend; 't is the duke's pleasure. --Shak.

She entered, were he lief or sorry. --Spenser.

2. Melancholy; dismal; gloomy; mournful. --Spenser.

All full of chirking was this sorry place. --Chaucer.

3. Poor; mean; worthless; as, a sorry excuse. ``With sorry grace.'' --Chaucer.

Cheeks of sorry grain will serve. --Milton.

Good fruit will sometimes grow on a sorry tree. --Sir W. Scott.

Syn: Hurt; afflicted; mortified; vexed; chagrined; melancholy; dismal; poor; mean; pitiful.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)