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wretched - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'wretched' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Wretched [ a.]
- Very miserable; sunk in, or accompanied by, deep affliction or distress, as from want, anxiety, or grief; calamitous; woeful; very afflicting.
- Worthless; paltry; very poor or mean; miserable; as, a wretched poem; a wretched cabin.
- Hatefully contemptible; despicable; wicked.

Meaning of 'wretched' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . wretched [ s]
Meaning (1):
- deserving or inciting pity
Example in sentence:
  • a hapless victim;
  • a pitiful fate;
  • a wretched life;
  • his poor distorted limbs;
  • miserable victims of war;
  • Oh, you poor thing;
  • piteous appeals for help;
  • pitiable homeless children;
  • the shabby room struck her as extraordinarily pathetic
Meaning (2):
- very unhappy; full of misery
Example in sentence:
  • a message of hope for suffering humanity;
  • he felt depressed and miserable;
  • wretched prisoners huddled in stinking cages
Meaning (3):
- morally reprehensible
Example in sentence:
  • a slimy little liar;
  • the vile development of slavery appalled them;
  • ugly crimes;
  • would do something as despicable as murder
Meaning (4):
- characterized by physical misery
Example in sentence:
  • a wet miserable weekend;
  • spent a wretched night on the floor
Meaning (5):
- of very poor quality or condition
Example in sentence:
  • deplorable housing conditions in the inner city;
  • woeful errors of judgment;
  • woeful treatment of the accused

Nearby Words:

wreak wreaked wreaken wreaker wreakful wreaking wreakless wreath wreath-shell wreathe

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