wretched
Americanadjective
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very unfortunate in condition or circumstances; miserable; pitiable.
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characterized by or attended with misery and sorrow.
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despicable, contemptible, or mean.
a wretched miser.
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poor, sorry, or pitiful; worthless.
a wretched job of sewing.
adjective
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in poor or pitiful circumstances
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characterized by or causing misery
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despicable; base
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poor, inferior, or paltry
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(prenominal) (intensifier qualifying something undesirable)
a wretched nuisance
Synonym Usage
Wretched, miserable, sorry refer to that which is unhappy, afflicted, or distressed. Wretched refers to a condition of extreme affliction or distress, especially as outwardly apparent: wretched hovels. Miserable refers more to the inward feeling of unhappiness or distress: a miserable life. Sorry applies to distressed, often poverty-stricken outward circumstances; but it has connotations of unworthiness, incongruousness, or the like, so that the beholder feels more contempt than pity: in a sorry plight.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of wretched
First recorded in 1150–1200, wretched is from the Middle English word wrecchede. See wretch, -ed 3
Explanation
The fairy tale Cinderella gives us many examples of uses for the word wretched. Poor Cinderella had a wretched childhood, living in wretched conditions with a wretched stepmother. It would be enough to make anyone feel wretched, or absolutely terrible. Wretched is an all-around unhappy word. If you're very ill, heartbroken, or riddled with guilt, you may feel wretched. This word is also used to describe awful living conditions. If your cabin at sleep-away camp is freezing cold and rat-infested, you could describe it as wretched. And if you truly don't like someone, you might call that person wretched — though maybe not to his or her face.
Vocabulary lists containing wretched
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
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"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, Act I
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100 SAT words Beginning with W,X,Y, and Z
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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:
Meanwhile, exposés of the wretched conditions in state asylums began to get public attention.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
A university with such a wretched purpose, the court said, lacked the charitable character necessary for federal tax exemption.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026
In 2008, John Swansburg argued that we should ditch this particular festivity: “Seems like a nice idea, the birthday dinner. It is not. It is a tedious, wretched affair.”
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
The wretched run of form came at what turned out to be the end of Stokes' reign as captain.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
It seemed the jungle’s very essence had sought him out, a living nightmare purged from its most wretched depths.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
I don't believe there was a wretcheder soul in that big city of wretchedness than me.
From The Story of a Bad Boy by Thomas Bailey Aldrich
Especially wretched young men; and the wretcheder one is, the more one smokes; and the more one smokes, the wretcheder one gets—a vicious circle!
From Peter Ibbetson by George Du Maurier
Let us hope not until social order has been transformed, lest they should only give more to those who have, and leave the wretched still wretcheder by force of contrast.
From Annie Besant An Autobiography by Annie Wood Besant
"The wretcheder are the contemners of all helps."
From The Grammar of English Grammars by Goold Brown
I felt all the wretcheder for the lack of a breakfast.
From The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
Last week, on the 19th anniversary of that historic Dempsey-Carpentier battle, Jersey City was the scene of another heavyweight prize fight that will probably go down in history as the wretchedest of the post-Dempsey era.
From Time Magazine Archive
In the wretchedest slum quarter of Partinico. a pinched little town near Palermo, a man lay starving last week.
From Time Magazine Archive
The sorriest jade of the wretchedest botta has a paper rose stuck behind his ear, though during the hours sacred to the carnival they are pariahs and outcasts from the Corso.
From Our Own Set A Novel by Ossip Schubin
A houn' ain't happy at best, he's melancholy; an' a houn' that ain't allowed to run free is of all critters the wretchedest.
From Frank of Freedom Hill by Samuel A. (Samuel Arthur) Derieux
"For of all things, that on the earth do breathe Or creep, man is by far the wretchedest."
From Plutarch's Morals by Arthur Richard Shilleto
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