Meanings
alternative woe is I
- humoroussometimesUsed to show that the speaker feels distress or misery; humorous use usually also signals self-awareness regarding excessive self-pity.
“Ah, woe is me! Alas, for my kingdom and my kinfolk!”
1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 342 more examples
Blasted with extasie. Oh, woe is me, T'haue seene what I haue seene: see what I see.
c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 266, column 1Woe is me, that I soiourne in Mesech: that I dwell in the tents of Kedar.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 120:5Synonyms: ah me, alack, alackaday, alas, hey ho, oh dear, oh well, pity
Synonyms & antonyms
interjectionUsed to show that the speaker feels distress or misery; humorous use usually also signals self-awareness regarding excessive self-pity.
Origin
The pronoun me in this expression is not semantically vacuous beyond its reference to the first person singular (and thus simply equated with the subject by copular be, as in this is me), but a relational dative (literally woe is to me, i.e. woe is upon me; compare German weh mir). Cognate with Yiddish וויי איז מיר (vey iz mir).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek οἴμοι
- οἴμοι (oímoi)interjection
Chinese Mandarin 哀哉
- 哀哉 (āizāi)interjection
Danish stakkels mig, ve mig
- stakkels miginterjection
- ve miginterjection
Dutch wee mij
- wee mijinterjection
Esperanto ve al mi
- ve al miinterjection
Finnish voi minua
- voi minuainterjection
French pauvre de moi
- pauvre de moiinterjection
German wehe mir, weh mir
- wehe mirinterjection
- weh mirinterjection
Greek οίμοι
- οίμοι (oímoi)interjection
Hebrew אוֹי לִי
- אוֹי לִי (oy li)interjection
Hungarian jaj nekem
- jaj nekeminterjection
Irish abhó
- abhóinterjection
Italian ahimè
- ahimèinterjection
Latin mē miserum
- mē miseruminterjection
Māori koae
- koaeinterjection
Norwegian Bokmål stakkars meg
- stakkars meginterjection
Persian وای من
- وای من (vây-e man)interjection
Polish biada mi
- biada miinterjection
Portuguese ai de mim
- ai de miminterjection
Romanian vai de mine, vai mie
- vai de mineinterjection
- vai mieinterjection
Russian го́ре мне
- го́ре мне (góre mne)interjection
Scottish Gaelic mo thruaighe, a thruaighe
- mo thruaigheinterjection
- a thruaigheinterjection
Spanish ay de mí, pobre de mí
- ay de míinterjection
- pobre de míinterjection
- ayméinterjection
- ay meinterjection
Swedish stackars mig!
- stackars mig!interjection
Tagalog sa aba ko
- sa aba kointerjection
Yiddish אַ בראָך איז מיר, אַ קלאָג איז מיר
- אַ בראָך איז מיר (a brokh iz mir)interjection
- אַ קלאָג איז מיר (a klog iz mir)interjection
- וויי איז מיר (vey iz mir)interjection
- וויי איז צו מיר (vey iz tsu mir)interjection
- ווינד איז מיר (vind iz mir)interjection
Cite this entry
woe is me. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/woe%20is%20me
“woe is me.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/woe%20is%20me. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “woe is me,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/woe%20is%20me.
Source: woe is me on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.