regrets

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of regret.

   Her only regrets concerned the friends she had left behind.

   He poured all his regrets into a long letter to his brother.

   Note

   The plural does social work that the singular rarely does. Sending one's regrets is the polite formula for declining an invitation. On an organizer's list, the regrets are people: invited guests who could not attend but said so beforehand. Emotional regrets pluralize just as freely, one for each thing a person looks back on with dissatisfaction or longing, but context makes clear whether it is feelings or guests that are being counted.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of regret.

   The company regrets any inconvenience the delay has caused its customers.

   She bitterly regrets that she ever trusted him with the secret.

   Note

   Formal notices rely on this form: the company regrets to inform you, the management regrets any inconvenience. It takes a noun phrase or a whole that-clause as its object. In older writing it can also mean simply to miss or mourn something absent. A line in which someone regrets a lost friend may therefore describe longing rather than remorse. That archaic use is worth recognizing when reading, though not worth imitating.

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