wretched Hear it!

wretched Definition

wretched (-id)

adjective

  1. deeply distressed or unhappy; miserable; unfortunate
  2. characterized by or causing distress or misery; dismal wretched slums
  3. poor in quality; very inferior a wretched meal
  4. contemptible; despicable

Etymology: ME wrecched < wrecche < OE wræcc, wretched < wrecan: see wretch

wretched Related Forms
wretch·edly adverb wretch·ed·ness noun
wretched Synonyms

wretched

modif.

  1. Afflicted

    distressed, woeful, sorrowful; see miserable 1, sad 1.

  2. Poor in quality

    weak, faulty, cheap, inferior; see flimsy 1, poor 2.

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

  1. wretch
  2. wrestling match
  3. wrestling
  4. wrestler
  5. wrestle
  6. wrest
  7. wrench
  8. wren
  9. wrecking bar
  10. wrecking
  1. wretchedness
  2. wrick
  3. wriggle
  4. wriggler
  5. wright
  6. Wright, Wilbur and Orville
  7. wring
  8. wringer
  9. wrinkle
  10. wrinkled