Dictionary

bewail en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /bɪˈweɪl/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Middle English bewailen, equivalent to be- (“over, about”) + wail.

Meanings

1. To wail over; to feel or express deep sorrow for.
   • About John Marin, there move sad, disgruntled beings, full of talk and lamentations. [...] They bewail the fact that in America, soil is poor and unconducive to growth, and men remain unmoved by growing green. But Marin persists, and what ebullience and good humour, in the rocky ungentle loam? 1922 April, Paul Rosenfeld, “The Water-Colours of John Marin: A Note on the Work of the First American Painter of the Day”, in John Peale Bishop, editor, Vanity Fair, volume 18, number 2, New York, N.Y.: Vanity Fair Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 48, column 2:
   • […] when the wind Blows keenly, it sends forth a creaking sound (Above the general roar of woods and crags) Distinctly heard from far--a doleful note! As if (so Grecian shepherds would have deemed) The Hamadryad, pent within, bewailed Some bitter wrong. 1820, William Wordsworth, The Haunted Tree:
   • And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 8:52:
   • Boxed out of federal governing, Democratic voters have bewailed the impotence of their party’s leaders as the Republican administration has dismantled government agencies, claimed wartime powers to deport immigrants – and, last week, imposed an unprecedented level of tariffs that sparked a rout in global financial markets. 2025 April 7, Simon Montlake, Caitlin Babcock, Ali Martin, Cameron Pugh, Jingnan Peng, “Is the anti-Trump ‘resistance’ starting to find its voice again?”, in The Christian Science Monitor:
   • […] Though in this city he Hath widow’d and unchilded many a one, Which to this hour bewail the injury, Yet he shall have a noble memory. c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene vi]:
   • Far from bewailing the existence of mysteries-for-humans, we should be extremely grateful for it. 2016, Noam Chomsky, What Kind of Creatures Are We?, New York: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page 56:

Forms

Deriveds

bewailment · bewailer · unbewailed · unbewailing · bewailingly · bewailing · bewailable

Synonyms

pine · afterthink · sorrow · bemoan · wayment · keen · mourn · lament · bemoan · deplore · becry · lament · sigh · grieve · wail · beweep · bemourn · grieven · elegize · grieve · repent · condole · begrieve · mean · bewail

Translations (45)

la dēfleō (to wail over) · fi itkeä (to wail over) · pt lamentar (to wail over) · la lamentor (to wail over) · rup butsescu (to wail over) · id menangisi (to wail over) · ro deplânge (to wail over) · rup jilescu (to wail over) · be апла́каць (to wail over) · sw kuombolezea (to wail over) · cs naříkat (to wail over) · uk опла́кати (to wail over) · nl betreuren (to wail over) · rup mirulyisescu (to wail over) · da begræde (to wail over) · mi uhunga (to wail over) · txb pälw- (to wail over) · fr pleurer (to wail over) · cs oplakávat (to wail over) · ru опла́кать (to wail over) · la comploro (to wail over) · sga coínid (to wail over) · uk опла́кувати (to wail over) · fr déplorer (to wail over) · gd caoidh (to wail over) · fi surra (to wail over) · bg оплаквам (to wail over) · gd caoin (to wail over) · rup arâbdâsescu (to wail over) · ro boci (to wail over) · wyi marroen (to wail over) · fi valittaa (to wail over) · rup zghilescu (to wail over) · be апла́кваць (to wail over) · de beklagen (to wail over) · rup arâvdâsescu (to wail over) · txb tränk- (to wail over) · ru опла́кивать (to wail over) · mi mōteatea (to wail over) · tr ağlamak (to wail over) · rup miruloyiu (to wail over) · cs tesknit (to wail over) · es lamentar (to wail over) · de betrauern (to wail over) · ro jelui (to wail over)