Woe \Woe\, n. [OE. wo, wa, woo, AS. w[=a], interj.; akin to D.
wee, OS. & OHG. w[=e], G. weh, Icel. vei, Dan. vee, Sw. ve,
Goth. wai; cf. L. vae, Gr. ?. [root]128. Cf. Wail.]
[Formerly written also wo.]
[1913 Webster]
1. Grief; sorrow; misery; heavy calamity.
[1913 Webster]
Thus saying, from her side the fatal key,
Sad instrument of all our woe, she took. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
[They] weep each other's woe. --Pope.
[1913 Webster]
2. A curse; a malediction.
[1913 Webster]
Can there be a woe or curse in all the stores of
vengeance equal to the malignity of such a practice?
--South.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Woe is used in denunciation, and in exclamations of
sorrow. " Woe is me! for I am undone." --Isa. vi. 5.
[1913 Webster]
O! woe were us alive [i.e., in life]. --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! --Isa.
xlv. 9.
[1913 Webster]
Woe worth, Woe be to. See Worth, v. i.
[1913 Webster]
Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day,
That costs thy life, my gallant gray! --Sir W.
Scott.
[1913 Webster]
Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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114 Moby Thesaurus words for "woe":
abomination, aching heart, affliction, agony, agony of mind,
anguish, atrocity, bad, bale, bane, befoulment, bemoaning,
bewailing, bitter cup, bitter draft, bitter draught, bitter pill,
bitterness, bleeding heart, blight, broken heart, bugbear, burden,
burden of care, calamity, cankerworm of care, care, carking care,
cataclysm, catastrophe, corruption, cross, crown of thorns,
crushing, crushing burden, crying evil, curse, damage, death,
defilement, depression, depth of misery, desolation, despair,
despoliation, destruction, detriment, disease, distress, dole,
encumbrance, evil, extremity, gall, gall and wormwood, grief,
grievance, harm, havoc, heartache, heartbreak, heartfelt grief,
heartgrief, heavy heart, hurt, ill, infection, infelicity,
infliction, injury, lamentation, languishment, load, melancholia,
melancholy, misadventure, mischief, misery, nemesis, open wound,
oppression, outrage, pack of troubles, peck of troubles, pest,
pestilence, pining, plague, poison, pollution, prostration, regret,
rue, running sore, sadness, scourge, sea of troubles, sorrow,
sorrowing, suicidal despair, the worst, thorn, torment, toxin,
tragedy, trouble, unhappiness, venom, vexation, visitation,
waters of bitterness, weight, wretchedness, wrong
Source: Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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Woe \Woe\, n. [OE. wo, wa, woo, AS. w[=a], interj.; akin to D.
wee, OS. & OHG. w[=e], G. weh, Icel. vei, Dan. vee, Sw. ve,
Goth. wai; cf. L. vae, Gr. ?. [root]128. Cf. Wail.]
[Formerly written also wo.]
1. Grief; sorrow; misery; heavy calamity.
Thus saying, from her side the fatal key, Sad
instrument of all our woe, she took. --Milton.
[They] weep each other's woe. --Pope.
2. A curse; a malediction.
Can there be a woe or curse in all the stores of
vengeance equal to the malignity of such a practice?
--South.
Note: Woe is used in denunciation, and in exclamations of
sorrow. `` Woe is me! for I am undone.'' --Isa. vi. 5.
O! woe were us alive [i.e., in life]. --Chaucer.
Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! --Isa.
xlv. 9.
Woe worth, Woe be to. See Worth, v. i.
Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day, That costs
thy life, my gallant gray! --Sir W.
Scott.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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