to regret; to feel remorse
HSK level
后悔 is written with 16 strokes (后: 6, 悔: 10). The animation replays automatically.
后悔 (hòuhuǐ) is a verb meaning 'to regret' — to feel sorrow or remorse about a past action or decision, wishing you had chosen differently.
It literally combines 后 ('after') and 悔 ('remorse'): the remorse that comes after. You can 后悔 doing something (后悔买了 = regret buying) or, with 没, regret not doing something (后悔没去 = regret not going). Unlike the polite English 'I regret to inform you,' 后悔 is purely emotional and personal — it is never used as a formal softener.
It also cannot take a direct object the way English 'regret X' does; instead it pairs with a clause or verb phrase. Common intensifiers: 很后悔 (deeply regret), 后悔死了 (regret it terribly).
Note: Everyday word usable anywhere. It carries genuine emotional weight — it is not a polite filler like English 'I'm afraid.'
Character by character
Memory hook: The remorse (悔) that comes after (后) — regret.
我很后悔没有早点告诉你。
Wǒ hěn hòuhuǐ méiyǒu zǎodiǎn gàosu nǐ.
I really regret not telling you sooner.
spoken
他后悔当初的决定。
Tā hòuhuǐ dāngchū de juédìng.
He regrets the decision he made back then.
neutral
别做让你以后后悔的事。
Bié zuò ràng nǐ yǐhòu hòuhuǐ de shì.
Don't do things you'll regret later.
spoken
我不后悔选择了这条路。
Wǒ bù hòuhuǐ xuǎnzé le zhè tiáo lù.
I don't regret choosing this path.
written
遗憾 is 'to feel it a pity / regret' about an outcome, often one outside your control (很遗憾 = it's a shame). 后悔 is remorse over your own choice — you did something and wish you hadn't. 后悔 blames yourself; 遗憾 just laments.
后来 means 'afterwards / later on' (a time word). 后悔 means 'to regret.' Both start with 后, but 后来 tells a sequence and 后悔 names an emotion.
遗憾 is a softer 'it's a pity,' often about things you couldn't control. 后悔 is self-directed remorse over a decision you made and now wish you hadn't.
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