Gratitude vs. Regret

The state of being grateful.

The state of being grateful; warm and friendly feeling toward a benefactor; kindness awakened by a favor received; thankfulness.

Example: ‘The debt immense of endless gratitude.’;

a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation;

Example: ‘he was overwhelmed with gratitude for their help’;

Gratitude, thankfulness, or gratefulness, from the Latin word gratus , is a feeling of appreciation felt by and/or similar positive response shown by the recipient of kindness, gifts, help, favors, or other types of generosity, to the giver of said gifts.The experience of gratitude has historically been a focus of several world religions. It has also been a topic of interest to ancient, medieval and modern philosophers, and continues to engage contemporary philosophers.The systematic study of gratitude within psychology began in the year 1998 when Martin Seligman introduced a new branch of psychology: positive psychology.

Example: ‘pleasing, thankful’;

To feel sorry about (a thing that has or has not happened), afterthink: to wish that a thing had not happened, that something else had happened instead.

Example: ‘He regretted his words.’;

(more generally) To feel sorry about (any thing).

Example: ‘I regret that I have to do this, but I don't have a choice.’;

Emotional pain on account of something done or experienced in the past, with a wish that it had been different; a looking back with dissatisfaction or with longing.

(obsolete) Dislike; aversion.

Pain of mind on account of something done or experienced in the past, with a wish that it had been different; a looking back with dissatisfaction or with longing; grief; sorrow; especially, a mourning on account of the loss of some joy, advantage, or satisfaction.

Example: ‘What man does not remember with regret the first time he read Robinson Crusoe?’; ‘Never any prince expressed a more lively regret for the loss of a servant.’; ‘From its peaceful bosom [the grave] spring none but fond regrets and tender recollections.’;

Dislike; aversion.

To experience regret on account of; to lose or miss with a sense of regret; to feel sorrow or dissatisfaction on account of (the happening or the loss of something); as, to regret an error; to regret lost opportunities or friends.

Example: ‘Calmly he looked on either life, and hereSaw nothing to regret, or there to fear.’; ‘In a few hours they [the Israelites] began to regret their slavery, and to murmur against their leader.’; ‘Recruits who regretted the plow from which they had been violently taken.’;

sadness associated with some wrong done or some disappointment;

Example: ‘he drank to drown his sorrows’; ‘he wrote a note expressing his regret’; ‘to his rue, the error cost him the game’;

feel remorse for; feel sorry for; be contrite about

feel sad about the loss or absence of

decline formally or politely;

Example: ‘I regret I can't come to the party’;

be sorry;

Example: ‘I regret to say that you did not gain admission to Harvard’;

feel sad, repentant, or disappointed over (something that one has done or failed to do)

Example: ‘she immediately regretted her words’; ‘I always regretted that I never trained’;

used in polite formulas to express apology for or sadness over something undesirable

Example: ‘we regret that no tickets may be exchanged’; ‘any inconvenience to readers is regretted’;

feel sorrow for the loss or absence of (something pleasant)

Example: ‘my home, when shall I cease to regret you!’;

a feeling of sadness, repentance, or disappointment over an occurrence or something that one has done or failed to do

Example: ‘he had to decline, to his regret’; ‘she expressed her regret at Virginia's death’;

used in polite formulas to express apology for or sadness at an occurrence or an inability to accept an invitation

Example: ‘please give your grandmother my regrets’;

Regret is the emotion of wishing one had made a different decision in the past, because the consequences of the decision were unfavorable. Regret is related to perceived opportunity.