wretched

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English

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Etymology

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From Middle English wrecched ((adjective) characterized by or suffering hardship or misfortune, miserable, unfortunate, unhappy; indigent, poor; of low economic or social status, lowly; (noun) miserable person) [and other forms],[1] from wrecche (characterized by or suffering hardship or misfortune, miserable, unfortunate, unhappy; indigent, poor; of low economic or social status, lowly; base, contemptible, vile; reprehensible, wicked; miserly, stingy; of little importance, paltry, worthless)[2] (from Late Old English wrecc, from Old English wreċċa (an exile, outcast), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wreg- (to follow, track; to hunt)) + -ed (suffix forming adjectives).[3] The English word is analysable as wretch ((obsolete) wretched, adjective) +‎ -ed (suffix forming adjectives).[4]

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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wretched (comparative more wretched, superlative most wretched)

  1. Characterized by or feeling deep affliction or distress; very miserable.
    Synonyms: dejected, (archaic or obsolete) wretchful; see also Thesaurus:lamentable, Thesaurus:sad
    I felt wretched after my wife died.
  2. Of an inferior or unworthy nature or social status; contemptible, lowly.
    The street was full of wretched beggars dressed in rags.
  3. Of an insignificant, mean, or poor nature; miserable, paltry, worthless.
    Synonyms: trifling; see also Thesaurus:insignificant
    • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 16: Eumaeus]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, [], →OCLC, part III [Nostos], page 598:
      All those wretched quarrels, in his humble opinion, stirring up bad blood – bump of combativeness or gland of some kind, erroneously supposed to be about a punctilio of honour and a flag, – were very largely a question of the money question which was at the back of everything, greed and jealousy, people never knowing when to stop.
  4. Of a person, etc.: behaving in a manner causing contempt; base, despicable, wicked.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:despicable
  5. Of weather: causing much discomfort; very unpleasant; miserable.
  6. (informal) Used to express annoyance towards or dislike of someone or something: bloody, damned.
    Synonyms: blasted, bleeding
    Will you please stop playing that wretched trombone!

Derived terms

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Collocations

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ wrecched, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ wrecche, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  3. ^ -ed, suf.(1)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  4. ^ Compare wretched, adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2023; wretched, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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