Word
wreak
US/ˈɹik/
UK/ɹˈiːk/
Definition
v. to cause something very bad to happen, like a lot of damage or trouble.
v. to inflict or cause large-scale damage, harm, or chaos. Almost exclusively used in the fixed expression 'wreak havoc'.
Examples
“The storm will wreak havoc on the local farms.”
“The heavy rain will wreak havoc on the city's infrastructure if the drainage systems fail.”
“The sudden collapse of the financial market will wreak havoc on the global economy, leading to widespread unemployment and a sharp decline in consumer confidence.”
Examples
simple
“The storm will wreak havoc on the local farms.”
contextual
“The heavy rain will wreak havoc on the city's infrastructure if the drainage systems fail.”
complex
“The sudden collapse of the financial market will wreak havoc on the global economy, leading to widespread unemployment and a sharp decline in consumer confidence.”
Usage
This verb is transitive and is most frequently followed by the noun 'havoc'.
Teaching tip
Advise students that while 'wreak' can technically take other objects like 'vengeance', in modern English it is nearly always paired with 'havoc'.
Pitfall
The scandal will wreck havoc on his career.
The scandal will wreak havoc on his career.
Learners often confuse 'wreak' with 'wreck' because they sound similar and both involve damage, but 'wreak havoc' is the correct idiom.
Real-World Examples
“While the war continues to wreak damage on the British economy, Burnham will struggle to deliver his promises of change.” “Rangers had really only started to wreak their havoc.” Etymology
From Middle English wreken, from Old English wrecan, from Proto-West Germanic wrekan, from Proto-Germanic wrekaną, from Proto-Indo-European *wreg- (“push, shove, drive, track down”). Cognate via Proto-Germanic with Dutch wreken, German rächen, Swedish vräka; cognate via PIE with Latin urgēre (English urge), and distantly cognate with English wreck.
From Middle English wreke, wrake, Northern Middle English variants of wreche, influenced later by Etymology 1, above. Compare Dutch wraak.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Synonyms
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/wreak