Dictionary

Bregret en · NOUN

Etymology

Etymology tree Celticder. Ancient Greek Βρεττᾰνός (Brettănós) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek Βρεττανία (Brettanía)bor. Latin Britannia Anglo-Norman Britainebor. Middle English Britayne English Britain Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰ Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs Proto-Italic *eks Latin ex Latin ex- Latin eō Latin exeō Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Italic *-tus Latin -tus Latin exitusder. Middle English exit English exit blend English Brexit Proto-Italic *wre- Latin re-der. Old French re- Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰreh₁d-der. Proto-Germanic *grētaną Frankish *grātander. Old French *greter Old French regreterbor. Middle English regretten English regret blend English Bregret Blend of Brexit + regret.

Meanings

1. (countable, neologism, uncountable) Regret about Brexit (or voting in favour of Brexit).
   • Brexit may be in the history books, but “Bregret,” as the British newspapers have called it, is back in the air. 2022 November 22, Mark Landler, “Buffeted by Economic Woes, U.K. Starts to Look at Brexit With ‘Bregret’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
   • The anxiety – dubbed “Bregret” – emerged as the value of the pound tumbled and markets crashed, while [some felt] betrayed by Nigel Farage’s admission that a Vote Leave poster pledging to spend millions of pounds supposedly given to the EU on the NHS was a “mistake”. 2016 June 25, Lizzie Dearden, “Anger over 'Bregret' as Leave voters say they thought UK would stay in EU”, in The Independent:
   • Three years on from Brexit, all UK voters are left with is a bitter taste of Bregret [title] 2023 January 31, Polly Toynbee, “Three years on from Brexit, all UK voters are left with is a bitter taste of Bregret”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
   • Yet polling shows no ‘Bregret’ – a YouGov survey earlier this week showed 52% of voters think leaving was right and 48% wrong, mirroring the referendum result. 2016 August 10, Matthew Holehouse, “Is the ignorant Leave voter just a comforting myth?”, in The Telegraph:
   • A creeping sense of Bregret is taking hold in Britain. A majority of Brits now say that the vote for Britain leaving the EU was a mistake. 2022 December 23, Matthew Goodwin, “Brexit regrets? Britain has a few”, in The Spectator:

Forms