repine

Syllables: re·pine/ɹɪˈpaɪn/US/ɹɪˈpaɪn/

repine verb: to complain; to regret; to fret.

Verb

repine (third-person singular simple present repines, present participle repining, simple past and past participle repined)

(intransitive, literary) To complain; to regret; to fret.
- [VV]e are able with playne demonſtration to proue, and vvith reaſon to perſvvade that in tymes paſt our fayth vvas alike, that then vve preached thinges correſpondent vnto the forme of faith already published of vs, ſo that none in this behalfe can repyne or gaynesay vs.1577, “Constantinus the Emperour Summoneth the Nicene Councell, it was Held at Nicæa a Citie of Bythnia for the Debatinge of the Controuersie about the Feast of Easter, and the Rootinge out of the...
- But many times we complaine, repine, and mutter without cauſe, wee giue way to paſſions, we may reſiſt and will not.1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Against Envy, Livor, Emulation, Hatred, Ambition, Selfe-loue, and All Other Affections”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford...
(intransitive, literary) To long for (something) discontentedly; to pine.
- Theſe ears, alas! for other notes repine, / A different object do theſe eyes require.1742 (date written), [Thomas] Gray, “Sonnet on the Death of Mr. Richard West”, in The Poems of Mr. Gray. […], York, Yorkshire: […] A[nn] Ward; and sold by J[ames] Dodsley, […]; and J[ohn] Todd, […]...
- But the oath supremacy was not refused, the worship of the church was frequented by multitudes who secretly repined for a change; […]1827, Henry Hallam, “On the Laws of Elizabeth’s Reign Respecting the Roman Catholics”, in The Constitutional History of England from the Accession of Henry VII. to the Death of George II. […], volume...

Noun

repine (plural repines)

(archaic, obsolete) A repining.
- Whose beams upon his hairless face are fix’d / As if from thence they borrowed all their shine. / Were never four such lamps together mix’d, / Had not his clouded with his brow’s repine; […]1593, [William Shakespeare], Venus and Adonis, London: […] Richard Field, […], →OCLC, [verse 82], lines [487–490]
- And ye, fair heaps, the Muses’ sacred shrines, / (In spite of time and envious repines) / Stand still and flourish till the world’s last day, / Upbraiding it with former love’s decay.c. 1600, Joseph Hall, “Book II”, in Satires, Chiswick: Printed for C[harles] Whittingham, […] , published 1824, →OCLC, Satire II, page 30

repine meaning in Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada

repine in Malayalam

അതൃപ്തി കാട്ടുക, ചിണുങ്ങുക, ആധിയുണ്ടാകുക

repine in Kannada

ಚಡಪಡಿಸು, ಸಿಡಿಮಿಡಿಗೊಳ್ಳು, ಅತೃಪ್ತಿಪಡು, ಕೊರಗು

Examples of repine in a sentence

O my gracious Lord, doe to me what seemeth good in thy own eyes; I am like clay in the hands of the potter, and what am I that I should repine against the acts of thy providence and dispensation?a. 1667, Jeremy Taylor, “A Prayer for a Woman who has Lost Her Husband”, in A Collection of Offices, or Forms of prayer in cases ordinary...
Whoſo repines at ſeaſons and weather, and ſpeaks impatiently of times and events, repines and ſpeakth impatiently of God, who is the ſole Lord and Governor of times, ſeaſons, and events.1729, William Law, chapter XXII, in A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life. Adapted to the State and Condition of All Orders of...
Beatrix invited me no more to tea but I did not greatly repine.1989, Anthony Burgess, “Dau”, in Any Old Iron, London: Hutchinson, →ISBN; republished New York, N.Y.: Washington Square Press, Pocket...
Yet oft do we repine / For the days of old, / For the days of gold— / For the days of Forty-Nine1910, Joaquin Miller, Forty-nine: an Idyl Drama of the Sierras (in Four Acts), San Francisco: Whitaker & Ray-Wiggin Co., →OCLC, page 85:

Forms of repine

Verb
third-person singular present	repines
present participle	repining
past participle	repined
past	repined
alternative form	repyne
second-person singular present (archaic)	repinest
second-person singular past (archaic)	repinedst
third-person singular present (archaic)	repineth
Noun
plural	repines

Origin of repine

Believed to have been formed (with uncertainty, due to the unusual formation) as re- + pine, with the verb giving rise to the noun (first attested in 1529 and 1593 respectively); compare the Middle English verb repinen (“(uncertain) to cause trouble to someone, grieve”) (from pīnen (“to cause pain, grieve, hurt, trouble; to starve, pine; to torment, torture”), from Old English pīnian), which may be related.

Words formed from repine

Words that rhyme with repine

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about repine

What does repine mean?: Repine means to complain; to regret; to fret.
What is repine in Urdu?: Repine in Urdu is کڑھنا. See Repine meaning in Urdu.
How do you use repine in a sentence?: O my gracious Lord, doe to me what seemeth good in thy own eyes; I am like clay in the hands of the potter, and what am I that I should repine against the acts of thy providence and dispensation?
What part of speech is repine?: Repine can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce repine?: Repine is pronounced /ɹɪˈpaɪn/ (UK).
What is the past tense of repine?: The past tense of repine is repined.

Words near repine in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: repine (page history and authors); repine (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); repine (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); repine (Kannada Wiktionary) (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: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-repine.wav.

Cite this entry: “repine.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/repine. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.