From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtale of woetale of woeSAD/UNHAPPY a) a description of events that made you unhappy b) a series of bad things that happened to someone The England team’s tale of woe continued, and they lost the next three games. → tale
Examples from the Corpus
tale of woe• He bore a tale of woe from the Old World.• His morose ruminations were interrupted by Benny Katz, who wanted anyone he could find to listen to his tale of woe.• Their musical tales of woe and spiritual import were needed more than ever.• I spend a lot of time recounting tales of woe from friends and readers, but this one is my own. 