Learn English – A word for “remorse” but without guilt

expressionssingle-word-requests

What is the word for the feeling of "remorse," but without guilt? Such as, sadness for a poor outcome, but with the realization that the actions taken were necessary or the best with the given amount of information.

I feel that this is different from remorse because remorse implies that there is a desire for the actions not to have been taken or to have been taken differently. In this scenario, there is no such desire, though there is a desire for the possibility of a better outcome.

There may also be a derivative term in the case that there was good or positive intentions, or if the results of the actions were known (therefore intended) but still necessary.

Best Answer

The closest that may come to the idea of a feeling of sadness without guilt, ("Well, I don't like it, it's bad, but it could not be helped") would be
regret [WP]

Regret is a negative conscious and emotional reaction to personal past acts and behaviors. Regret is often expressed by the term "sorry." Regret is often a feeling of sadness, shame, embarrassment, depression, annoyance, or guilt, after one acts in a manner and later wishes not to have done so. Regret is distinct from guilt, which is a deeply emotional form of regret — one which may be difficult to comprehend in an objective or conceptual way. In this regard, the concept of regret is subordinate to guilt in terms of its emotional intensity. [emphasis added]

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