Meanings
- alternativeAlternative form of I'm sorry.
“We can stop turning our heads away. We can look at you in the eyes and finally say on behalf of the American people: What the government did was shameful and I am sorry,” he told the elderly men, emphasizing the last three words.
1997 May 17, Jonathan Peterson, quoting [Bill] Clinton, “Clinton Tells Tuskegee Survivors : ‘I Am Sorry’”, in Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 Aug 20202 more examples
But in this rude and raucous age, apologies have become pro forma. People apologize not for being offensive (“I did something to hurt you, and I am sorry”) but rather because someone might have taken offense (“If your feelings were hurt, I am sorry.”)
2009 September 16, Lisa Belkin, “Teaching Children to Apologize”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 Sep 2009I'm not sure I like you, brother of mine, I want to say. But I am sorry. You have affected me so deeply, probably more than I know. For a long time I have wanted to scream, "I hate you!" But until now I have never wanted to apologise. […] And so I am sorry. For taking so long to understand that not everything is a choice and that maybe you are that little bit saner for your open uncertainty of that funny thing called life.
2012 July 6, “A letter to … my brother to say I'm sorry”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 Nov 2014
Cite this entry
I am sorry. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/I%20am%20sorry
“I am sorry.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/I%20am%20sorry. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “I am sorry,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/I%20am%20sorry.
Source: I am sorry on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.