Synonyms

repine

American

[ri-pahyn] / rɪˈpaɪn /

verb (used without object)

repined, repining

to be fretfully discontented; fret; complain.

repine British

/ rɪˈpaɪn /

verb

(intr) to be fretful or low-spirited through discontent

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

repiner noun
unrepined adjective
unrepining adjective

Etymology

Origin of repine

First recorded in 1520–30; re- + pine ²

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

More a conscious repining at their existence, mixed with revulsion at the thought that she occasionally had to share space with them.

From The Wall Street Journal

Freeman called Lee “the Southern Arthur” who “accepted fame without vanity and defeat without repining.”

From Washington Post

She whispered a poem: “The storm is past, no more repining Behold! the gentle sun is shining” “Yeah,” muttered Charles, “but the track is still too heavy for Seabiscuit.”

From Literature

Far from repining in the sheltered world of the rectory, she was surrounded by sensational, exotic, dramatic life.

From The Guardian

Arthur was inclined to think that Sylvia had much less cause to repine than he; the more tales she told him of her life, the more tributes of envy he paid to her good fortune.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023