wroth
Americanadjective
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angry; wrathful (usually used predicatively).
He was wroth to see the damage to his home.
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stormy; violent; turbulent.
the wroth sea.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of wroth
before 900; Middle English; Old English wrāth; cognate with Dutch wreed cruel, Old Norse reithr angry; akin to writhe
Explanation
When you're wroth, you're absolutely furious. If you borrow your sister's bike without asking and bend its wheel running into a parked car, don't be surprised if she's completely wroth. This is an old-fashioned way to say "irate" or "infuriated." Wroth is extremely rare these days, but you may come across it in an old novel. Like its more common cousin, wrath, or "anger," wroth comes from the Old English wrað, "angry, tormented, or twisted."
Vocabulary lists containing wroth
Tolkien Reading Day, List 6
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Oedipus at Colonus
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Cold Cereal
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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.
“Keeping devices within reach can mean the difference between a contained incident and a serious event,” said David Wroth, who leads UL Standards & Engagement’s research on thermal runaway incidents.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026
Immediately, she recognized it as the monogram cipher of Lady Mary Wroth, a contemporary of Shakespeare’s considered England’s first female fiction writer.
From New York Times • Jul. 7, 2022
Rohnert Park police were called to a hotel by reports of a guest acting strangely and tried to take Wroth into custody on an existing arrest warrant.
From Washington Times • Jun. 20, 2019
The ancient Wroth Silver ceremony is derived from the annual tax paid to the local landowner, records of which can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086.
From BBC • Jan. 1, 2019
Wroth were the gods, and with eternal hate Pursued the fearless one who ravished Heaven That earth might hold in fee the perfect leaven To lift men's souls above their low estate.
From The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar by Howells, William Dean
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.
