Other forms: resented, resents, resenting
To resent is to hold bitter feelings about being treated unfairly. Resent the interference, deeply resented, he resented it for years.
It takes a direct object, or an -ing form: resent being told. The feeling is quiet and lasting rather than explosive, which is what separates it from anger. Note resentment, the noun; resentful, the adjective; and that resent has nothing to do with sending — re-sent with a hyphen is a different thing entirely, and the two are confused in writing more often than they should be.
1verbresentTo feel bitter about unfair treatment.
“She resented the way it had been decided without her.”
synonyms: begrudge, take exception to
resent is a bitter feeling.
French ressentir means to feel strongly, from re- plus sentir, to feel — the same verb as sentiment and sense. Resentment was originally any strong feeling, and English narrowed it to the bitter kind.
Old French
resentir
Middle French
ressentir
English, today
resent
Built from
From Middle French ressentir, resentir, from Old French resentir (Modern ressentir), from re- + sentir (“to feel”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA