Today's Word

Yesterday's Word

Archives

FAQ

Discuss
Email this
Feedback
RSS/XML
Permalink

A.Word.A.Day--woebegone

This week's theme: words that aren't what they appear to be.

woebegone (WO-bi-gon) adjective

Affected with, or exhibiting, woe.

[From Middle English woe + begon (beset).]

See more usage examples of woebegone in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

Woe-Be-Gone! Sounds like the perfect name for a drive-thru pain-relief outlet. What a shame, the word means the opposite of what it appears to be.

There is a variety of Australian carpet shark called wobbegong (named from an Australian Aboriginal language). If one ever comes in touch with this fish, a woebegone status is certain.

-Anu Garg garg AT wordsmith.org

"Tara, woebegone and still hiccuping with the force of her crying, was at the door." Hema Nair; Growing Up Tara; Little India (New York); Oct 31, 2002.

X-Bonus