Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The state or condition of a suffering wretch; a wretched or distressful state of being; great misery or affliction.
- noun Wretched character or quality; distressing, reprehensible, or despicable nature; aggravated or aggravating badness of any kind.
- noun That which is wretched or distressingly bad; wretched material, conduct, or the like; anything contemptible or despicable; wretched stuff.
- noun =Syn.1. Affliction, Grief, Sorrow, etc. See
affliction .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The quality or state of being wretched; utter misery.
- noun obsolete A wretched object; anything despicably.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An
unhappy state ofmental orphysical suffering . - noun A state of
prolonged misfortune ,privation , oranguish .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the quality of being poor and inferior and sorry
- noun a state of ill-being due to affliction or misfortune
- noun the character of being uncomfortable and unpleasant
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Cursed, cursed be the fiend that brought misery on his grey hairs, and doomed him to waste in wretchedness!
Chapter 23 2010
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Cursed, cursed be the fiend that brought misery on his grey hairs, and doomed him to waste in wretchedness!
Chapter 6 2010
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They try so hard to please their parents and even harder to understand them, and their resulting wretchedness is one of the most haunting subplots of the novel.
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They try so hard to please their parents and even harder to understand them, and their resulting wretchedness is one of the most haunting subplots of the novel.
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What was it specially that he called wretchedness?
The Argonauts Eliza Orzeszkowa 1876
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I shall not close this, till I have seen or heard from the vile miscreant who has involved a worthy family in wretchedness!
The Coquette, or, The History of Eliza Wharton: A Novel Founded on Fact 1797
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It is of course self-evident that poverty should not degenerate into wretchedness, which is no less an abundant source of moral dangers than is excessive wealth.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 12: Philip II-Reuss 1840-1916 1913
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How many old labourers, old operatives, or miners are now left to recall the wretchedness of that toiling and starving childhood before the corn-tax was removed?
Essays in Rebellion Henry W. Nevinson 1900
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By such an estimate, nearly the whole number are accounted for by wretchedness, that is by economic causes, alone
Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 6 Sex in Relation to Society Havelock Ellis 1899
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My first knowledge of their wretchedness was a thing which sank deep.
His Grace of Osmonde Being the Portions of That Nobleman's Life Omitted in the Relation of His Lady's Story Presented to the World of Fashion under the Title of A Lady of Quality Frances Hodgson Burnett 1886
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