Word.ws English Dictionary

woe is me

UK/ˌwəʊ ɪz ˈmiː//ˌwoʊ ɪz ˈmi/

woe is me interjection: used to show that the speaker feels distress or misery; humorous use usually also signals self-awareness regarding excessive self-pity.

Interjection

  1. (humorous, sometimes) Used to show that the speaker feels distress or misery; humorous use usually also signals self-awareness regarding excessive self-pity.
    • Blasted with extasie. Oh, woe is me,
      T'haue seene what I haue seene: see what I see.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
    • Woe is me, that I soiourne in Mesech: that I dwell in the tents of Kedar.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 120:5

woe is me meaning in Tagalog and Persian

woe is me in Tagalog

interjection
sa aba ko

woe is me in Persian

interjection
وای من vây-e man

Synonyms of woe is me

2 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of woe is me

Forms of woe is me

alternative formwoe is I

Origin of woe is me

The pronoun me in this expression is not semantically vacuous beyond its reference to the first person singular (and thus simply equated with the subject by copular be, as in this is me), but a relational dative (literally woe is to me, i.e. woe is upon me; compare German weh mir). Cognate with Yiddish וויי איז מיר (vey iz mir).

Questions about woe is me

What does woe is me mean?
Woe is me means used to show that the speaker feels distress or misery; humorous use usually also signals self-awareness regarding excessive self-pity.
What is woe is me in Tagalog?
Woe is me in Tagalog is sa aba ko. See Woe is me meaning in Tagalog.
What part of speech is woe is me?
Woe is me is an interjection.
How do you pronounce woe is me?
Woe is me is pronounced /ˌwəʊ ɪz ˈmiː/ (UK).

Words near woe is me in the dictionary

  1. Wodzynski
  2. Wodzynskis
  3. woe
  4. woe betide
  5. woe is I
  6. woe is me
  7. woe to
  8. woebegone
  9. woebegonely
  10. woebegoneness
  11. woebegones

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: woe is me (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-woe is me.wav.

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