deplore Meaning, Definition & Usage

verb express strong disapproval of
- We deplore the government's treatment of political prisoners
verb regret strongly
bemoan; bewail; lament.
- I deplore this hostile action
- we lamented the loss of benefits

L. deplorare; de- + plorare to cry out, wail, lament; prob. akin to pluere to rain, and to E. flow: cf. F. déplorer. Cf. Flow.

imperfect & past participle Deplored ; present participle & verbal noun Deploring

To feel or to express deep and poignant grief for; to bewail; to lament; to mourn; to sorrow over.
To find her, or forever to deplore Her loss. Milton.

As some sad turtle his lost love deplores. Pope.
To complain of. Obs. Shak.
To regard as hopeless; to give up. Obs. Bacon. Syn. -- To Deplore, Mourn, Lament, Bewail, Bemoan. Mourn is the generic term, denoting a state of grief or sadness. To lament is to express grief by outcries, and denotes an earnest and strong expression of sorrow. To deplore marks a deeper and more prolonged emotion. To bewail and to bemoan are appropriate only to cases of poignant distress, in which the grief finds utterance either in wailing or in moans and sobs. A man laments his errors, and deplores the ruin they have brought on his family; mothers bewail or bemoan the loss of their children.