Sor"ry (?), a. [Compar. Sorrier (?); superl. Sorriest.] [OE. sory, sary, AS. sārig, fr. sār, n., sore. See Sore, n. & a. The original sense was, painful; hence, miserable, sad.]

1. Grieved for the loss of some good; pained for some evil; feeling regret; -- now generally used to express light grief or affliction, but formerly often used to express deeper feeling. "I am sorry for my sins." Piers Plowman.

Ye were made sorry after a godly manner. 2 Cor. vii. 9.

"I am sorry for thee, friend; t is the dukes pleasure." Shak.

She entered, were he lief or sorry. Spenser.

2. Melancholy; dismal; gloomy; mournful.Spenser.

All full of chirking was this sorry place. Chaucer.

3. Poor; mean; worthless; as, a sorry excuse. "With sorry grace." Chaucer.

Cheeks of sorry grain will serve. Milton.

Good fruit will sometimes grow on a sorry tree. Sir W. Scott.

Syn. -- Hurt; afflicted; mortified; vexed; chagrined; melancholy; dismal; poor; mean; pitiful.

-- Webster's unabridged 1913