wrath
1 Americannoun
-
strong, stern, or fierce anger; deeply resentful indignation; ire.
- Synonyms:
- choler, fury, resentment, rage
-
vengeance or punishment as the consequence of anger.
adjective
noun
noun
-
angry, violent, or stern indignation
-
divine vengeance or retribution
-
archaic a fit of anger or an act resulting from anger
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of wrath
First recorded before 900; (for the noun) Middle English wraththe, Old English wrǣththo, equivalent to wrāth wroth + -tho -th 1; (for the adjective) variant of wroth by association with the noun
Explanation
Wrath is great anger that expresses itself in a desire to punish someone: Noah saw the flood as a sign of the wrath of God. Wrath is also used figuratively of things that behave in a violent way: Earthquakes are the wrath of the sea. This noun and the corresponding adjective wrathful are in literary use but are formal or old-fashioned words, that crop up in fantasy fiction or movies set in prehistoric times.
Vocabulary lists containing wrath
Emotions on Display
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"They've already felt the wrath of the US," she said.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Of course, as so many 19th-century paintings capture, left out of this telling is that Orestes’ crimes incur the Furies’ wrath.
From Salon ● Sep. 3, 2026
He’d incurred the wrath of Al Davis in a disastrous stint as the Oakland Raiders’ coach.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
The target of the Danish group's wrath is an advertising campaign that was "aired during recent, widely viewed global sporting broadcasts and on TikTok and Facebook, causing widespread confusion," it said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
It may be that the counsels of the Enemy will be confused, or hindered by his wrath with Saruman.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
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Wrath of The Gods completes Robin Hardy's Wicker trilogy and is dedicated to Justin's mother Caroline, who was a secret uncredited executive producer on the original 1973 film.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
Other stuff that Comic Con people seemed to agree upon, in no particular order: Grogu is cool, “Rogue One” is the best Star Wars movie and “The Wrath of Khan” is quintessential “Star Trek.”
From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2026
"I do wonder how I'll view the Cape Wrath trail now," she said.
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026
In “Aguirre, the Wrath of God,” hundreds of little monkeys invaded the raft where Aguirre is half dead, drifting on the Amazon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 16, 2026
That’s when I noticed her eyes darting down to my desk, where my copy of Captain Underpants and the Wrath of the Wicked Wedge Woman, with Calista’s fake cover, was sticking out.
From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.