wreck

American  

[rek] / rɛk /

noun

1. any building, structure, or thing reduced to a state of ruin.

2. wreckage, goods, etc., remaining above water after a shipwreck, especially when cast ashore.

3. the ruin or destruction of a vessel in the course of navigation; shipwreck.

4. a vessel in a state of ruin from disaster at sea, on rocks, etc.

5. the ruin or destruction of anything.

   the wreck of one's hopes.

6. a person of ruined health; someone in bad shape physically or mentally.

   The strain of his work left him a wreck.

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verb (used with object)

1. to cause the wreck of (a vessel); shipwreck.

2. to involve in a wreck.

3. to cause the ruin or destruction of.

   to wreck a car.

   Synonyms:

   shatter, devastate, destroy

4. to tear down; demolish.

   to wreck a building.

5. to ruin or impair severely.

   Fast living wrecked their health.

verb (used without object)

1. to be involved in a wreck; become wrecked.

   The trains wrecked at the crossing.

2. to act as a wrecker; engage in wrecking.

wreck British  

/ rɛk /

verb

1. to involve in or suffer disaster or destruction

2. (tr) to cause the wreck of (a ship)

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noun

1. 1. the accidental destruction of a ship at sea

   2. the ship so destroyed

2. maritime law goods cast ashore from a wrecked vessel

3. a person or thing that has suffered ruin or dilapidation

4. the remains of something that has been destroyed

5. old-fashioned the act of wrecking or the state of being wrecked; ruin or destruction

Usage

What does wreck mean? To wreck something is to destroy, ruin, or severely damage it. It’s commonly used in the context of the destruction of physical objects, as in He wrecked the car when he hit the tree. Nonphysical things can also be wrecked, as in Tom’s poor planning wrecked his chances of finishing his homework in time to go to baseball practice. Wreck is also commonly used as a noun referring to something that has been destroyed or turned into a ruin, such as a building, as in All that was left of the house after the fire was a burnt wreck. Wreck is often used figuratively to describe a person who is in bad health or who is emotionally or mentally unwell, as in Stress reduces him to a nervous wreck. Wreck is also used in a more specific way to refer to sunken or destroyed ships, as in The diver went to the bottom of the sea to explore the wreck. The word shipwreck means the same thing. The word wreckage refers to the remains of something that has been wrecked. Example: I cried so much at the end of that movie that I was an emotional wreck for the rest of the day.

Related Words

See spoil.

Other Word Forms

• unwrecked
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of wreck

First recorded in 1200–50; (noun) Middle English wrec, wrech, wrek, from Old Danish wrækæ “wreck”; (verb) late Middle English, derivative of the noun

Explanation

A wreck is something that's been destroyed. Your hair might be a wreck after a bad day at the barber. Your car might be a wreck after you hit a telephone pole. Your house might be a wreck after a visit from 3-year-old twins. You might be an emotional wreck after a fight with your boyfriend. A sunken ship is a wreck, or a shipwreck. When you hit that telephone pole, you’ve had a wreck, and you can also call your mangled car a wreck. When you’re next heading out with the car keys, you mom might say, "Don't wreck the car!,” hoping you’ll bring it back in one piece.

Example Sentences

“Nobody knows I’m working out to The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” read another on a video with a person on a treadmill.

From Slate • Nov. 10, 2025

His book takes its title from the lyrics of Gordon Lightfoot’s “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” the 1976 folk-rock song that romanticized and immortalized the disaster.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 3, 2025

Despite minimal media coverage, the band says it has sold more than seven million records, exclusively releasing them on independent labels, chief among them: Fat Wreck Chords, an imprint co-owned and controlled by Fat Mike.

From New York Times • Jun. 18, 2024

Wreck hunters have found the ship on which the famous polar explorer Ernest Shackleton made his final voyage.

From BBC • Jun. 12, 2024

The Warden ordered the counselors to take turns guarding the shower room and Wreck Room, all day and all night.

From "Holes" by Louis Sachar

Related Words

• batter
• decimate
• demolish
• destroy
• devastate
• impair
• injure
• mangle
• mar
• ravage
• raze
• ruin
• sabotage
• shatter
• sink
• smash
• spoil
• torpedo
• trash
• undermine