alas
UK/əˈlæs//əˈlæs/
alas interjection: used to express sorrow, regret, compassion, grief, resignation, or disappointment.
Interjection
- Used to express sorrow, regret, compassion, grief, resignation, or disappointment.
- I wanted to catch the last bus home, but alas, I was ten minutes late and had to take a taxi instead.
- Helas I lamente the dull abuſyd brayne
The enfatuate fantaſies the wytles wylfulnes
Of on and hothyr at me that haue dyſdaynec. 1521, John Skelton, Speke Parott
Noun
IPA/əˈlɑːs/
alas (plural alases or alasses)
- A type of geological depression formed by the subsidence of permafrost, sometimes (partially) filled by a lake.
- Alternative forms: alass, alaas
- […] alasses probably exist south of the Yukon Flats. Another bus tour went to the east, and alasses and pingos were examined on the terraces.1973, Arctic Bulletin, page 35
alas meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
alas in Hindi
- alas!
- हाय hāy
- alas, what a pity
- हैफ़ haif
alas in Tamil
- துயரம், வருத்தம்
alas in Urdu
- alas!
- ہائے hāe
alas in Bengali
- alas, ho, oh, ah; used to express emotion, sorrow, regret, compassion or grief
- হায়রে haẏore
- alas, ho, oh, ah;
- হায় haẏ
- alas, ho, oh, ah
- রে re
- alas
- আহারে ahare
More languagesFewer languages
- alas in Telugu
- అయ్యో ayyō
- alas in Malayalam
- ആർത്തനാദം, സങ്കടദ്യോതകമായ ശബ്ദം
- alas in Kannada
- ಅಯ್ಯೋ ayyō
- alas in Punjabi
- افسوس afsos, ਅਫਸੋਸ aphasos, ਅਫ਼ਸੋਸ afasos
- alas in Gujarati
- અફસોસ aphasos
- alas in Arabic
- وَا حَسْرَتَاه wā ḥasratāh, وَاهًا wāhan
- alas in Persian
- افسوس afsus, آوخ âvax, وای vây
- alas in Thai
- อนิจจา à-nít-jaa, โถ tǒo, โธ่ tôo, พิโธ่
Examples of alas in a sentence
- Alas poore Yorick, I knew him Horatio, a fellow of infinite Ieſt; of moſt excellent fancy, he hath borne me on his backe a thouſand times: And how abhorred my Imagination is, my gorge riſes at it.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies...
- Standing afarre off for the feare of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great citie Babylon, that mighty citie: for in one houre is thy iudgement come.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 18:10:
- Alasses are characteristics of the thermal degradation stages of permafrost.2007, Mary Chapman, The Geology of Mars: Evidence from Earth-Based Analogs, page 292:
- The exact extent of change is highly dependent on the specific context of each alas's physical characteristics.2019, Takeshi Ohta, Tetsuya Hiyama, Yoshihiro Iijima, Water-Carbon Dynamics in Eastern Siberia, page 195:
Synonyms of alas
Forms of alas
| Interjection | |
|---|---|
| alternative form | helas |
| Noun | |
| plural | alases |
| plural | alasses |
Origin of alas
From Middle English alas, from Old French a las (French hélas), from a (“ah”) + las, from Latin lassus (“weary”). Compare Dutch helaas, North Frisian ielas, West Frisian eilaas.
From Yakut алаас (alaas).
Words formed from alas
- alack and alas
- alas and alack
- alas the day
- alas the while
Words that rhyme with alas
39 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- bagasse
- Corinthian brass
- cuirass
- en masse
- frass
- Lefkas
- madras
- morass
- Pendergrass
- volte-face
- wass
- world-class
- adder's grass
- asse
- bamboo grass
- chasse
- das
- dass
- dogtooth grass
- flyaway grass
- hey pass
- Inner Brass
- khalass
- khalassed
- lac
- lift pass
- low mass
- Neptune grass
- outclass
- Outer Brass
- Ratass
- rockmass
- saas
- shass
- tass
- tasse
- thass
- wassed
- wrasse
Questions about alas
- What does alas mean?
- Alas means used to express sorrow, regret, compassion, grief, resignation, or disappointment.
- What is alas in Hindi?
- Alas in Hindi is हाय (hāy), हैफ़ (haif). See Alas meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use alas in a sentence?
- Alas poore Yorick, I knew him Horatio, a fellow of infinite Ieſt; of moſt excellent fancy, he hath borne me on his backe a thouſand times: And how abhorred my Imagination is, my gorge riſes at it.
- What part of speech is alas?
- Alas can be an interjection or a noun.
- How do you pronounce alas?
- Alas is pronounced /əˈlæs/ (UK).
Words near alas in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: alas (page history and authors); हाय (Hindi) (page history and authors); alas (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ہائے (Urdu) (page history and authors); আহারে (Bengali) (page history and authors); alas (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); افسوس (Punjabi) (page history and authors); અફસોસ (Gujarati) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-alas.ogg, en-au-alas.ogg.
Cite this entry: “alas.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/alas. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.