ENGLISH
REFERENCE

wretched

adj.
C1 Advanced US //ˈɹɛtʃɪd// UK //ɹˈɛtʃɪd// wretch·ed Informal

adj. feeling very unhappy, sick, or unlucky. It can also describe something of very poor quality that makes you feel annoyed.

adj. characterised by a state of extreme misery, misfortune, or poor quality. Often used to express a speaker's contempt or pity toward a subject.


SIMPLE

The poor dog looked wretched out in the rain.

CONTEXTUAL

After losing his job and his apartment in the same week, he felt truly wretched.

COMPLEX

The refugees were forced to live in wretched conditions, cramped into small metal shipping containers with no access to clean running water or electricity.

Synonyms
Origin

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], 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”) (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). The English word is analysable as wretch (“(obsolete) wretched”, adjective) + -ed (suffix forming adjectives).

Usage

Can be used both attributively before a noun and predicatively after a linking verb like 'feel' or 'look'.

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