Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

woe betide

/ˌwoʊ bəˈtaɪd/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.04 in modern English

Syllables: woe be-tide
IPA: /ˌwoʊ bəˈtaɪd/

15

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

Used to warn someone that trouble will occur if that person does something: bad things will happen to.

Humorous; Literary; Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"Woe betide you if you try that with my sister again!"
"O gentle Aaron, we are all vndone. / Now helpe, or woe betide thee euermore."
"Woe betide the Subſcribers, their Children and Wives, / This Action ſhall coſt 'em five hundred Folks Lives."
""God save us!" cried the captain, / "For naught can man avail; / Oh, woe betide the ship that lacks / Her rudder and her sail!["]"
"A man, remember, whether rich or poor, should do something in this world. No one can find happiness without work. Woe betide the lazy fellow! Laziness is a serious illness and one must cure it immediately; yes, even from early childhood."
"However, woebetide the male who takes that downward step into femininity."

Etymology

From Early Modern English woe (“great sadness or distress; calamity, trouble”) + betide (“to happen to, befall”), formerly used to decry a person’s actions. Grammatically, the verb is in the subjunctive mood.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˌwoʊ bəˈtaɪd/
British English: /ˌwəʊ bɪˈtaɪd/

Usage

Inflected Forms

woebetide (alternative)

Phrases

a pox on

Frequently Paired Words

a pox on

Questions

How do you pronounce woe betide?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˌwoʊ bəˈtaɪd/.
What does woe betide mean?: Used to warn someone that trouble will occur if that person does something: bad things will happen to.
Where does woe betide come from?: From Early Modern English woe (“great sadness or distress; calamity, trouble”) + betide (“to happen to, befall”), formerly used to decry a person’s actions. Grammatically, the verb is in the subjunctive mood.

How to pronounce woe betide

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