[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/wretched.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / wretched

[← W](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/W/)

# wretched

«wretched» in Mova's school dictionary: **Very unhappy, ill or miserable: «I felt wretched with flu.»** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

adjective (wretched, more wretched, most wretched); adverb (wretchedly); noun (wretch)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Very unhappy, ill or miserable: «I felt wretched with flu.» [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wretched/#m1)

2) Very poor or bad in quality: «They lived in wretched huts.» [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wretched/#m2)

3) (informal, annoyed) Used to show you are cross with something: «This wretched computer won't work!» [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wretched/#m3)

4) Wretched can also describe a person who is wicked and deserves scorn. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wretched/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In stories, a wretched character is suffering — Toad feels wretched in his dungeon, and poor people in old books live in wretched conditions. In sense 3 it is a mild, annoyed word, not a swear word. In the Bible and old hymns, «a wretch like me» (Amazing Grace) means a sinful, unhappy person whom Christians believe God saves.

### examples

- Toad felt wretched in his cold cell. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wretched/#x1)
- The wretched dog has eaten my homework! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wretched/#x2)
- The refugees lived in wretched tents. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wretched/#x3)
- I felt wretched after staying up so late. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wretched/#x4)
- «Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.» [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wretched/#x5)
- Mole felt wretched when he lost his way in the Wild Wood. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wretched/#x6)

### note

Sounds like «RETCH-id», two syllables; the w is silent. A wretch is a miserable or bad person.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «wretched» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wretched/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.