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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

alas.

Used to express sorrow, regret, compassion, grief, resignation, or disappointment.

4 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

intj/əˈlæs/UK/əˈlɑːs/UK/əˈlæs/US/ɘˈlɛs/New-Zealand
  1. 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.
Where this word comes from

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.

noun/əˈlɑːs//əˈlæs/
  1. A type of geological depression formed by the subsidence of permafrost, sometimes (partially) filled by a lake.

Where this word comes from

From Yakut алаас (alaas).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.