woebegone

Definition

In a deplorable state.

Etymology

From Old English wābegān (“beset by woe”), from wā (“woe”) + begān (“to beset, to surround”). Equivalent to woe + begone (past participle of bego).

Example Sentences

• "The 44-year-old Prokhorov, the second-richest man in Russia, is expected to assume control of the woebegone Nets within the next few weeks."
• "Pen and Miss Bolton were hard by listening to the same concert, and the latter remarked, and Pen laughed at Mr. Foker’s woebegone face. Fanny asked what it was that made that odd-looking little man so dismal? “I think he is crossed in love!” Pen said."
• "When he was finished, as such, he was wringing wet, and now he had to edge and shimmy his way back, and with a most woebegone look, and everybody laughing, except the sad blond boy, and the Minnesotans roaring in the cab."