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
"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, Act I
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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
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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:
Some of Mr. Spencer’s family stories—how his mother was kept from holding his elder brother, John, who died a few hours after birth—are wretched and empathetically told.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
In medieval Europe, leprosy was seen as a kind of transfigurative suffering: Those with the condition were believed to be so wretched in this life that they were virtually guaranteed respite in the hereafter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Angelenos, take heart: After a wretched stretch of heat and humidity, temperatures for the coming week are forecast at or below normal for this time of year, according to the National Weather Service.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
In that case, you will likely find yourself traveling to or from the concourse on a wretched holdover of mid-century transportation design: the people mover.
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
I’d hardened myself to this wretched life, but I shouldn’t have to.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
I felt all the wretcheder for the lack of a breakfast.
From The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
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
"The wretcheder are the contemners of all helps."
From The Grammar of English Grammars by Goold Brown
For three months this game has gone on—we getting shabbier, wretcheder, hungrier—no one bothers—all they say is "keep off the pavement."
From Five Little Plays by Alfred Sutro
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
In the wretchedest slum quarter of Partinico. a pinched little town near Palermo, a man lay starving last week.
From Time Magazine Archive
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
He saw to-day only the wretchedest and ugliest sights.
From Istar of Babylon A Phantasy by Margaret Horton Potter
And this the wretchedest of all, That when upon your lonely eyes The last faint heaviness shall fall, Ye shall bethink you of our cries.
From Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 2 by Hamilton Wright Mabie
"I'm the wretchedest wickedest girl alive," declared Agatha.
From Comedies of Courtship by Anthony Hope
Definitions 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.
