Etymology
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regretful (adj.)

1640s, "full of regret," from regret (n.) + -ful. Regretfully (1680s), properly "with regret," often has been incorrectly used in place of regrettably "it is to be regretted that; calling for regret" at least since 1965. "A regrettable use, prob. after HOPEFULLY adv.2" [OED, with a nip of salt]. Or, in a different statement:

regretful means feeling or manifesting regret, not causing it ; the latter sense belongs to regrettable. [Fowler]

Entries linking to regretful

regret (n.)

1530s, "complaint, lament," a sense now obsolete, from the verb, or from French regret, back-formation from regreter "long after, bewail" (see regret (v.)).

From 1590s as "pain or distress in the mind due to some external circumstances" (as in to look on (something) with regret); 1640s as "pain or distress in the mind at something done or left undone."  In correspondence, in declining an invitation, etc., regrets "expressions of regret, intimation of regret for inability to do something" is attested by 1851.

-ful 
word-forming element attached to nouns (and in modern English to verb stems) and meaning "full of, having, characterized by," also "amount or volume contained" (handful, bellyful); from Old English -full, -ful, which is full (adj.) become a suffix by being coalesced with a preceding noun, but originally a separate word. Cognate with German -voll, Old Norse -fullr, Danish -fuld. Most English -ful adjectives at one time or another had both passive ("full of x") and active ("causing x; full of occasion for x") senses.

It is rare in Old English and Middle English, where full was much more commonly attached at the head of a word (for example Old English fulbrecan "to violate," fulslean "to kill outright," fulripod "mature;" Middle English had ful-comen "attain (a state), realize (a truth)," ful-lasting "durability," ful-thriven "complete, perfect," etc.).

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Definitions of regretful

regretful (adj.)
feeling or expressing regret or sorrow or a sense of loss over something done or undone;
felt regretful over his vanished youth
regretful over mistakes she had made
Synonyms: sorry / bad
From wordnet.princeton.edu

Dictionary entries near regretful

regolith

regress

regression

regressive

regret

regretful

regrettable

regroup

regrow

regrowth

regular

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