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:
Barca winger Anthony Gordon also called him "one of the best in the world" before the game, even though Emery's record at the Nou Camp is wretched.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 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
The wretched run of form came at what turned out to be the end of Stokes' reign as captain.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
In that case, you will likely find yourself traveling to or from the concourse on a wretched holdover of midcentury transportation design: the people mover.
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
As if being back here on this wretched road—the place he’d un-died—weren’t bad enough, ahead of them, Fernlight Forest stretched upward and outward, rich and leafy and gold-dappled green.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
There’s nowt more wretcheder an we, Or worthier an the rich, I praises ’em for bein’ born, An’ ’eaven for makin’ sich.
From The Humourous Story of Farmer Bumpkin's Lawsuit by Richard Harris
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
I felt all the wretcheder for the lack of a breakfast.
From The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
Yes, so they have; though not many wretcheder things.
From The Hand of Ethelberta by Thomas Hardy
No roads were wretcheder than theirs; nobody cared less than they.
From The Henchman by Mark Lee Luther
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
It depends on Miss Haldane to make me the happiest or the wretchedest man living.'
From The Haunted Hotel by Wilkie Collins
"I'm the wretchedest wickedest girl alive," declared Agatha.
From Comedies of Courtship by Anthony Hope
Am I not the very wretchedest creature that breathes? and so much the poorer, for that a few hours since I deemed myself the happiest.
From The Old Man of the Mountain, The Lovecharm and Pietro of Abano Tales from the German of Tieck by Ludwig Tieck
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
