wretched
wretched
Definition
wretched (-id)
adjective
- deeply distressed or unhappy; miserable; unfortunate
- characterized by or causing distress or misery; dismal wretched slums
- poor in quality; very inferior a wretched meal
- contemptible; despicable
Etymology: ME wrecched < wrecche < OE wræcc, wretched < wrecan: see wretch
wretch′·edly adverb
wretch′·ed·ness noun
wretched
Synonyms
wretched
modif.
wretched
Usage Examples
Adjective complement with noun phrase
- make: It can make the game fairly wretched, even in its early stages.
Modifies a noun
- hovel: She lives in a wretched, filthy hovel with two grown up daughters whom she will not suffer to work or learn anything.
- sinner: For whatever reason, the psalmist has been made deeply aware that he is a wretched sinner.
- creature: You believe that I am some wretched creature lost in the cruel fantasies of his mind?
- beast: This was never an easy task - frequently I over wrung the wretched beasts ' neck in a vain effort to reduce post-death spasms.
- existence: The operation continued for another four months, with trench warfare proving a wretched existence.
- soul: They pare down the wretched souls to what is below jail allowance.
Modifying Another Word
- pretty: Truth is, I had a pretty wretched childhood.
- so: I never had seen so wretched a looking creature.
- very: I usually went alone and in spite of the kindness of the hospital staff, I felt very wretched and isolated by my deafness.
- absolutely: I was banded in May 2005 when I weighed 14.7 stone and felt absolutely wretched.
- perfectly: Isn't it a advance boy game video perfectly wretched situation?
- too: In his experience, if a patient was feeling too wretched, a meeting might achieve very little.
Used with adjective complement
- feel: Or was the above supposed to make me feel wretched for having a go at your command of English?
- look: He looked positively wretched for the first couple of weeks alone in his nest.
- make: One small boy, however, goes home - an unhappy home made wretched by ' abrasive loss ' .
Preposition: in
- extreme: The cottages in Strata Florida are wretched in the extreme.
Preposition: of
- earth: Why not stop competing with the wretched of the earth - why not help them instead?
Browse dictionary entries near wretched
- wretch
- wrestling match
- wrestling
- wrestler
- wrestle
- wrest
- wrench
- wren
- wrecking bar
- wrecking
- wretchedness
- wrick
- wriggle
- wriggler
- wright
- Wright, Wilbur and Orville
- wring
- wringer
- wrinkle
- wrinkled
