ruefulness.

A feeling or manner of regret, often mixed with a quiet awareness of one's mistake.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• ruefulness in a smile
• quiet ruefulness

On the page

There was ruefulness in her smile when she recalled the promises they had made.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: Usually uncountable; no ordinary plural in this sense. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: uncommon.