Sor″ry (?), a. [Compar.Sorrier (?); superl.Sorriest.] [OE. sory, sary, AS. sārig, fr. sār, n., sore. SeeSore, 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 duke's 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.