rueful
rooh fuhl
- s feeling or expressing pain or sorrow for sins or offenses
- She sounded almost rueful as she discussed a political environment in which her brand of bipartisan dealmaking sets her apart.
- Beyond his mastery of the issues, Obama revealed a more personal note: a slightly rueful sense that the world was tightening around him, that he would no longer be able to take a .
- Still in the realm of fantasy, this rueful little fable cut close enough to the essence of lean-year reality to please those who detest animals that behave like humans.