woe


Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
woe/wəʊ/
noun literary
  • 1 great sorrow or distress.
  • 2 (woes) troubles.
– phrases
woe betide someone (or woe to someone) humorous a person will be in trouble if they do a specified thing.
woe is me! humorous an exclamation of sorrow or distress.
– origin natural exclamation of lament: recorded as in OE and found in several Gmc languages.
'woe' also found in these Oxford entries:

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