wretched

English

WOTD – 19 April 2023

Etymology

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

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛt͡ʃɪd/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛt͡ʃəd/
Audio (General American): (file)
Hyphenation: wretch‧ed

Adjective

wretched (comparative more wretched, superlative most wretched)

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.
- 1576, George Whetstone, “The Arbour of Vertue, […]”, in The Rocke of Regard, […], London: […] [H. Middleton] for Robert Waley, →OCLC; republished in J[ohn] P[ayne] Collier, editor, The Rocke of Regard, […] (Illustrations of Early English Poetry; vol. 2, no. 2), London: Privately printed, [1867?], →OCLC, page 174:
  Oh (men forlorne) how wretched is our ſtate, / Whome heaven and earth oppreſſe with heapes of hate!
- c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v], page 199, column 2:
  [W]ho might be your mother / That you inſult, exult, and all at once / Ouer the vvretched?
  A noun use.
- 1622 May 24 (licensing date), John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, “The Prophetesse”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act III, scene i, page 33, column 2:
  Sir, / vve are no Spinſters; nor, if you look upon us, / ſo vvretched as you take us.
- a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Autumn”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC, page 160, lines 1289–1292:
  Let theſe / Inſnare the vvretched in the toils of lavv, / Fomenting diſcord, and perplexing right, / An iron race!
  A noun use.
- 1794 May 8, Ann Radcliffe, chapter I, in The Mysteries of Udolpho, a Romance; […], 2nd edition, volume IV, London: […] G. G. and J. Robinson, […], →OCLC, page 12:
  […] Emily ſtood, ſilent and trembling, vvretched for herſelf and dreading to leave him in this ſtate of mind.
- 1796, Robert Southey, “Book the Ninth”, in Joan of Arc, an Epic Poem, Bristol: […] Bulgin and Rosser, for Joseph Cottle, […], and Cadell and Davies, and G. G. and J. Robinson, […], →OCLC, pages 346–347, lines 618–621:
  From thence they came, / VVhere, in the next VVard, a most vvretched band / Groan'd underneath the bitter tyranny / Of a fierce Dæmon; […]
- 1918, Maxim Gorky, “My Fellow-traveller”, in J. [K.] M. Shirazi [et al.], transl., Creatures that Once were Men […], New York, N.Y.: Boni and Liveright, →OCLC, page 202:
  Every time the boat was thrown upward, Shakro shrieked wildly. As for me, I felt wretched and helpless, in the darkness, surrounded with angry waves, whose noise deafened me.
- 2011 April 11, Phil McNulty, “Liverpool 3 – 0 Man City”, in BBC Sport‎^[1], archived from the original on 2023-01-27:
  Mario Balotelli replaced [Carlos] Tevez but his contribution was so negligible that he suffered the indignity of being substituted himself as time ran out, a development that encapsulated a wretched 90 minutes for City and boss Roberto Mancini.
Of an inferior or unworthy nature or social status; contemptible, lowly.
The street was full of wretched beggars dressed in rags.
- 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, page 51:
  I had been here ſooner, but that, vvretched man that I am! I ſlept in the Arbour that ſtands on the Hillſide; nay, I had notvvithſtanding that, been here much ſooner, but that in my ſleep I loſt my Evidence, and came vvithout it to the brovv of the Hill; and then feeling for it, and finding it not, I vvas forced vvith ſorrovv of heart, to go back to the place vvhere I ſlept my ſleep, vvhere I found it, and novv I am come.
- 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Three. The Second of the Three Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 117:
  From the foldings of its robe, it [the Ghost of Christmas Present] brought two children; wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable. They knelt down at its feet, and clung upon the outside of its garment.
- 1865, Thomas Carlyle, “Battle of Torgau”, in History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volume VI, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book XX, page 135:
  So I have withdrawn, like a bad little boy, to conceal myself, out of spite, in one of the wretchedest villages in Saxony.
- 1913, Fyodor Dostoevsky, “Letters from the Underworld: Part II: Apropos of the Falling Sleet”, in C[harles] J[ames] Hogarth, transl., edited by Ernest Rhys, Letters from the Underworld (Everyman’s Library; no. 654), London: J[oseph] M[alaby] Dent & Sons; New York, N.Y.: E[dward] P[ayson] Dutton & Co., published 1937, →OCLC, section III, page 79:
  […] Simonov would size me up, and despise me for my wretched vanity and want of spirit; […]
- 1918, Fyodor Dostoevsky, “Notes from Underground: A Novel: Part I: Underground”, in Constance Garnett, transl., White Nights and Other Stories […] (The Novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky; X), New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, section I, page 52:
  My room is a wretched, horrid one in the outskirts of the town.
- 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXXVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 287:
  This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of the casual labourer.
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.
Of a person, etc.: behaving in a manner causing contempt; base, despicable, wicked.
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:despicable
- 1667, Francisco de Quevedo Villegas, “The Sixth Vision of Hell”, in R[oger] L[’Estrange], transl., The Visions of Dom Francisco de Quevedo Villegas, […], London: […] H[enry] Herringman […], →OCLC, page 247:
  But a Devil came in juſt in the God-ſpeed, and told them; Gentlemen Philoſophers, (ſays he) if you vvould knovv the VVretched'ſt, and moſt contemptible thing in the VVorld; It is an Alchymiſt: […]
Of weather: causing much discomfort; very unpleasant; miserable.
(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

Related terms

ratchet (adjective)
wretch
wretchful (archaic or obsolete)
wretchlessly (obsolete)
wretchlessness (obsolete)
wretchless (obsolete)
wretchock (Britain, dialectal)

Collocations

with nouns

wretched animal
wretched being
wretched city
wretched condition
wretched creature
wretched excess
wretched health
wretched hive
wretched hole
wretched house
wretched life
wretched man
wretched person
wretched place
wretched situation
wretched slave
wretched state
wretched town
wretched village
wretched weather
wretched woman
wretched world

Translations

characterized by or feeling deep affliction or distress; very miserable

Albanian: ngratë (sq)
Armenian: դժբախտ (hy) (džbaxt)
Azerbaijani: bədbəxt (az)
Bulgarian: злочест (bg) (zločest), нещастен (bg) (neštasten)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 可怜的
Czech: zoufalý (cs), nešťastný (cs), zkroušený (cs)
Dutch: ellendig (nl)
Estonian: õnnetu (et)
Finnish: kurja (fi), onneton (fi), surkea (fi), viheliäinen (fi)
French: misérable (fr)
Georgian: საბრალო (sabralo), საცოდავი (sacodavi)
German: miserabel (de), sehr schlecht, erbärmlich (de)
Gothic: 𐌰𐍂𐌼𐍃 m (arms), 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍃 (wainahs)
Greek:
Ancient: ἄθλιος (áthlios)
Hindi: अभागा (hi) (abhāgā), निगोड़ा (hi) (nigoṛā), कमबख़्त (kambaxt), दीन (hi) (dīn), दुख का मारा (dukh kā mārā), बेहाल (hi) (behāl), बदबख़्त (badbaxt), बदक़िस्मत (badqismat), बदनसीब (badansīb), कंगाल (hi) (kaṅgāl), दरिद्र (hi) (daridra), मंदभागी (hi) (mandbhāgī), अक्षेम (hi) (akṣem)
Irish: aimléiseach, aimlithe, ainnis (ga), dearóil
Latin: miser (la)
Macedonian: бе́ден (béden), не́среќен (nésreḱen)
Maori: tūreikura
Norwegian:
Bokmål: kummerlig (no)
Polish: nędzny (pl)
Portuguese: miserável (pt)
Romanian: mizerabil (ro), nenorocit (ro)
Russian: жа́лкий (ru) (žálkij), несча́стный (ru) (nesčástnyj)
Sanskrit: दीन (sa) (dīna)

of an inferior or unworthy nature or social status — see contemptible,‎ lowly

of an insignificant, mean, or poor nature — see also worthless

Azerbaijani: bədbəxt (az), miskin
Bulgarian: окаян (bg) (okajan), мизерен (bg) (mizeren)
Czech: ubohý (cs), bídný
Estonian: kasutu, väärtusetu
Finnish: kurja (fi), pahainen, surkea (fi)
German: wertlos (de)
Macedonian: ми́зерен (mízeren), ни́штожен (níštožen)
Portuguese: maldito (pt)
Russian: убогий (ru) (ubogij)

of a person, etc.: behaving in a manner deserving contempt

Bulgarian: презрян (bg) (prezrjan)
Czech: mizerný (cs), zatracený (cs), zpropadený
Esperanto: aĉa (eo)
Finnish: riivattu
German: erbärmlich (de)
Greek: άθλιος (el) (áthlios), ελεεινός (el) (eleeinós)
Ancient Greek: ἄθλιος (áthlios)
Indonesian: laknat (id)
Macedonian: клет (klet), у́жасен (úžasen)

of weather: causing much discomfort; very unpleasant — see also miserable

Czech: mizerný (cs)
Finnish: kurja (fi)
Macedonian: лош (loš), у́жасен (úžasen), о́двратен (ódvraten)

used to express annoyance towards or dislike of someone or something — see bloody

References

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