Regret
Etymology
From Old French "regreter," “to bewail, lament (especially the dead).” Its deeper origin is uncertain, but many trace it to a Germanic root connected to weeping and grieving. Regret began as mourning — lamenting a loss — and only later narrowed to lamenting one’s own choices.
noun · /ri-GRET/
The wish that one had acted differently, and the sorrow at how things turned out.
What it names
Use it for the backward-looking ache over a choice or outcome — the counterfactual that keeps replaying a different, better version.
Example
His one great regret was turning down the offer to move abroad when he was young.
Related idea
Against remorse: remorse carries moral guilt — you did wrong and it gnaws (the root means “to bite again”); regret can be purely practical, with no wrongdoing at all (you regret a missed train). You can regret a bad bet without any remorse; you feel remorse only when you believe you did harm.
See also