deplore

Definitions

de- (fully) + plor (weep) = 'to weep fully over something.' If you weep over a thing, you treat it as a disaster — so deplore moved from literal mourning to condemning or deeply regretting. We deplore the violence means we treat it as something to weep over.

Why It Means This

Deplore keeps plōrāre's tears most literally of the three. The shift from 'weep over' to 'condemn' is short: things you weep over are things you judge to be terrible. Today it is a formal word, almost always aimed at acts or conditions (violence, waste, the state of something), not at people directly.

Common Collocations

• 1.deplore violence谴责暴力
• 2.deplore the attack谴责袭击
• 3.deplore the lack of痛惜…的缺失
• 4.strongly deplore强烈谴责

Example Sentences

• 1.

  World leaders deplored the attack on civilians.

• 2.

  She deplored the lack of funding for public schools.

• 3.

  We deeply deplore the loss of life caused by the disaster.

Easily Confused

deplore vs condemn — Both mean to disapprove strongly, but deplore carries an undertone of sorrow/regret (something to weep over), while condemn is a sharper, more public verdict. You deplore a sad state of affairs; you condemn a crime or a person's actions.

Synonym Comparison