wretched
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English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]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
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɹɛt͡ʃɪd/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈɹɛt͡ʃəd/
Audio (General American): (file) - Hyphenation: wretch‧ed
Adjective
[edit]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?
- 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!
- 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.
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]- ratchet (adjective)
- wretch
- wretchful (archaic or obsolete)
- wretchlessly (obsolete)
- wretchlessness (obsolete)
- wretchless (obsolete)
- wretchock (Britain, dialectal)
Collocations
[edit]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
[edit]characterized by or feeling deep affliction or distress; very miserable
|
of an insignificant, mean, or poor nature — see also worthless
|
of a person, etc.: behaving in a manner deserving contempt
of weather: causing much discomfort; very unpleasant — see also miserable
used to express annoyance towards or dislike of someone or something — see bloody
References
[edit]- ^ “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, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2023; “wretched, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Further reading
[edit]- “wretched”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “wretched”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “wretched”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *wreg-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms suffixed with -ed (adjectival)
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English informal terms
- English intensifiers
- English terms with unexpected syllabic -ed
- en:Emotions