From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishwoewoe /wəʊ $ woʊ/ ●○○ noun 1 → woes2 [uncountable] literarySAD/UNHAPPY great sadness3 → woe is me4 → woe betide somebody
Examples from the Corpus
woe• I saw more of human agony and woe than l trust I will ever again be called on to witness.• Keith will play with Amy but woe betide her if she does not hand him toys, her food etc.• She thought of the baby only as her last blunder in loving, a mistake leading her nearer to this dreadful woe.• The Magic situation is symbolic of the Lakers' woes.• You must listen to their interminable tales of marital woe.• The image left by these events was of a company besieged by technical, legal, marketing and customer-service woes.Origin woe Old English wa 