different between disconsolate vs wretched

English

Etymology

From Medieval Latin disc?ns?l?tus (“comfortless”), from dis- (“away”) +? c?ns?l?tus (“consoled”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /d?s?k?ns?l?t/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /d?s?k?ns?l?t/

Adjective

disconsolate (comparative more disconsolate, superlative most disconsolate)

1. Cheerless, dreary.

   Synonyms: bleak, dreary, downcast; see also Thesaurus:cheerless

   • 2013, Daniel Taylor, Jack Wilshere scores twice to ease Arsenal to victory over Marseille (in The Guardian, 26 November 2013)[1]

     Özil looked a little disconsolate when he was substituted late on, though he did set up Wilshere's second with a lovely pass off the outside of his left boot.

   • 1897, W.S.Maugham, Liza of Lambeth, chapter 1.

     Worst off of all were the very young children, for there had been no rain for weeks, and the street was as dry and clean as a covered court, and, in the lack of mud to wallow in, they sat about the road, disconsolate as poets.

   • 1885, Robert L. Steveson, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, chapter 7.

     Sitting close beside it, taking the air with an infinite sadness of mien, like some disconsolate prisoner, Utterson saw Dr. Jekyll.

2. Seemingly beyond consolation; inconsolable.
   • a. 1677, Isaac Barrow, The Pleasantness of Religion (sermon)

     overwhelmed with disconsolate sorrow

   Synonyms: dejected, inconsolable, unconsolable

   Antonym: consolable

Derived terms

• disconsolately
• disconsolation
• disconsolateness

Translations

Noun

disconsolate

1. (obsolete) Disconsolateness.

Anagrams

• consolidates

Latin

Adjective

disc?ns?l?te

1. vocative masculine singular of disc?ns?l?tus

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English wrecched, equivalent to wretch +? -ed.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???t??d/

Adjective

wretched (comparative wretcheder or more wretched, superlative wretchedest or most wretched)

1. Very miserable; feeling deep affliction or distress.

   I felt wretched after my wife died.
2. Worthless; paltry; very poor or mean; miserable.

   The street was full of wretched beggars dressed in rags.
3. (obsolete) Hatefully contemptible; despicable; wicked.
4. (informal) Used to express dislike of or annoyance towards the mentioned thing.

   Will you please stop playing that wretched trombone!

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "wretched" is often applied: woman, state, life, condition, creature, man, excess, person, place, world, being, situation, weather, slave, animal, city, village, health, house, town.

Synonyms

• (very miserable): See Thesaurus:sad or Thesaurus:lamentable
• (worthless): See Thesaurus:insignificant
• (hatefully contemptible): See Thesaurus:despicable

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• wretched in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• wretched in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “wretched”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??t?t/
• Rhymes: -?t?t

Verb

wretched

1. Misspelling of retched.