Does the Word Rueful Mean?

causing sorrow or pity; pitiable; deplorable: a rueful plight. feeling, showing, or expressing sorrow, repentance, or regret: the rueful look on her face.

Where did the word rueful come from?

If you're sorry about something you've done but you can still laugh at yourself a little bit, you feel rueful. The word itself comes from the verb to rue, which means "to regret."

How do you use rueful?

Rueful sentence example

Daniel just looked at him with a rueful grin. He gazed down into the river water, with what looked like a fond, rueful smile. To round off the weekend 's matches, John Cannon sends a rueful comment from a Sussex viewpoint.