alas

/əˈlæs/ (bre, ipa) · [əlˈæs] /əˈlæs/ (ame, ipa)

alas — exclamation

1. a word used in slightly old-fashioned or literary writing to mark a small touch

1.感嘆詞C1
釋義

a word used in slightly old-fashioned or literary writing to mark a small touch of sadness or regret about something the speaker cannot change.

例句

Tamás had hoped to study in Paris but, alas, his scholarship was not renewed.

alas, between commas, marking polite regret in a parenthetical aside

Nia loves cooking dumplings; alas, her tiny apartment kitchen has only one small burner.

alas, opening a clause after a semicolon to introduce a regretted fact

同義詞
  • unfortunately

    the everyday neutral equivalent; safe in any register

  • sadly

    informal-to-neutral; warmer in tone than 'alas'

  • regrettably

    formal written register, slightly more distanced than 'alas'

反義詞
  • happily

    expresses welcome news, the opposite outcome from 'alas'

  • luckily

    marks a fortunate turn instead of a regretted one

文法句型

alas, [clause]

[clause], alas, [clause]

用法筆記

Frequently parenthetical between commas, especially after a verb of wishing or hoping that has been thwarted. Strongly literary or self-consciously formal in modern English; in everyday speech people use 'sadly' or 'unfortunately' instead.

常見錯誤

❌Alas, the cake was so delicious!
✅Sadly, the cake is already gone.
💡'alas' only fits a regret or disappointment, never a happy reaction.
❌I lost my keys alas.
✅I lost my keys, alas.
💡'alas' takes commas around it when used parenthetically.

2. a heightened, often archaic cry of deep sorrow, typically used in the fixed phra

2.感嘆詞C2
釋義

a heightened, often archaic cry of deep sorrow, typically used in the fixed phrase 'alas and alack' to lament a serious loss or misfortune, today mostly heard in literature or playful imitation of older speech.

例句

Alas and alack, the village storyteller had passed away during the long winter.

fixed phrase: alas and alack, opening a lamenting clause

Alack and alas, every last loaf in Niran's bakery had gone hard overnight.

variant order: alack and alas, same archaic lament function

同義詞
  • woe is me

    another archaic-literary cry of deep sorrow; equally theatrical

  • oh dear

    modern everyday lament; far milder than 'alas and alack'

反義詞
  • hurrah

    archaic cry of joy or triumph, the opposite mood from 'alas and alack'

文法句型

alas and alack, [clause]

alack and alas, [clause]

用法筆記

Distinguish from sense 1: this sense is the heightened, almost theatrical cry, always with strong sadness, and is almost never used parenthetically between commas — it opens the sentence. Most modern uses are deliberately literary or jokingly old-fashioned.

常見錯誤

❌Alas and alack, I missed my bus by a minute.
✅Alas, I missed my bus by a minute.
💡sense 2 fits serious losses, not small daily annoyances; use sense 1 for that.
❌I was, alas and alack, late for class.
✅Alas and alack, I was late for class.
💡the phrase is almost always sentence-initial, not mid-clause.