Remorse is a deep, painful regret for a past action, often accompanied by a sense of guilt and self-reproach. It reflects a sincere longing to make amends and a strong emotional response to the consequences of one’s behavior. The term denotes moral unease rather than mere sadness, and can motivate corrective or reparative behavior.
"She felt remorse after lying to her friend and apologized profusely."
"A moment of remorse crossed his face when he realized the harm he caused."
"The company offered compensation as an expression of remorse for the service failure."
"In his memoir, he writes about public remorse he endured after the scandal."
Remorse comes from Old French remors, from remordre “to bite back, to bite again,” from re- “back” + morse “biting, grip.” The Proto-Germanic root *mursaiz- or similar Gil might be linked to a sense of biting back feelings, but the direct Indo-European lineage centers on France’s medieval legal-sentiment vocabulary that grew into modern English. The current spelling and pronunciation stabilized in Early Modern English, influenced by Latin-based forms through ecclesiastical and legal discourse. By the 16th century, remorse began to denote moral regret as a psychological state, expanding beyond physical biting to internal moral conflict. In literature, it appears in moral treatises and drama as a marker for penitence after moral transgression, evolving into contemporary usage where remorse signals both affect and motive toward restitution. In essence, it fused emotional sting with ethical self-judgment, shifting from a literal “biting back” image to a figurative, introspective regret about past deeds.”,
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "Remorse" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "Remorse"
-rse sounds
-rce sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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Remorse is pronounced /rɪˈmɔrs/ in US English and /rɪˈmɔːs/ in UK English. Put stress on the second syllable: re-MORSE. Start with an unstressed “ri” /rɪ/ and then a rounded, tense /mɔr/ or /mɔː/ vowel, ending with a soft /s/. Visualize the mouth closing subtly after the /ɔː/ vowel, with the sibilant released crisply. Practice by saying ‘ri-MORESE’ slowly, then sweep to the natural /r/ blend and final /s/.”,
Common mistakes include conflating it with ‘remorseful’ by stressing the first syllable and misplacing /r/ and /l/ sounds, or turning the second syllable into /ɔːz/ instead of /ɔːrs/ or /ɔːs/. Another pitfall is a weak final /s/ or an overly strong /r/ in non-rhotic accents. To fix: keep /r/ as an initial ally in /rɪ/ and hold the /ɔː/ with adequate lip rounding, then release a clear /s/ at the end. Practicing with minimal pairs helps lock the final /s/.”,
In US English, you’ll hear /rɪˈmɔrs/, with a rhotic /r/ and a pronounced /ɔ/ in the stressed syllable. UK English tends toward /rɪˈmɔːs/ with a longer /ɔː/ vowel and non-rhoticity in some accents, though many speakers still produce a postvocalic /r/ in careful speech. Australian pronunciation is /ɹɪˈmɔːs/ with strong vowel length and a clear final /s/. The key differences are vowel length and rhoticity, affecting the perceived backness and rounding of the stressed vowel.
The main challenge is the stressed second syllable focal point /ˈmɔr/ combined with the rounded back vowel /ɔ/ and the final /s/. For non-native speakers, matching the exact lip rounding and avoiding a stray /z/ or /z sound can be tricky, especially if your native language has a front vowel in stressed syllables. The subtle /r/ color in non-rhotic accents and the crisp /s/ require control of tongue position and airflow. Practice with slow drills to stabilize the sound.”,
No letters are silent in remorse. The word is phonetically /rɪˈmɔrs/ (US) or /rɪˈmɔːs/ (UK). The second syllable carries the primary vowel /ɔ/ and ends with an audible /r/ or /ɹ/ before the /s/ in rhotic accents, or a simpler /s/ in some non-rhotic pronunciations. The challenge is crisp consonant release and maintaining the stressed vowel quality, not a silent letter feature.
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