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Book Glossary

wretched

adjective · /RECH-id/

Wretched means very unhappy, miserable, or in very bad shape. It can describe a person, a feeling, or something that seems awful.

In a sentence

  • "After losing his kite in the rain, Milo felt wretched all afternoon."
  • "The wretched old blanket was full of holes, but the puppy still loved it."

Books where you'll see it

Dictionary definition · wretched

adjective

  1. of very poor quality or condition"deplorable housing conditions in the inner city"
  2. characterized by physical misery"a wet miserable weekend"
  3. very unhappy; full of misery"he felt depressed and miserable"
  4. morally reprehensible"would do something as despicable as murder"
  5. deserving or inciting pity"a hapless victim"

Similar words

deplorableexecrablemiserablewoefulsufferingdespicableslimyuglyunworthyvile

Source: Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0).