different between searing vs wretched

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -??r??

Adjective

searing

1. very hot; blistering or boiling
2. (of a pain) having a sensation of intense sudden heat

Noun

searing (plural searings)

1. action of the verb to sear

   • he was raw with the searings of the fire

   • 1970, Ebony (volume 25, number 10, August 1970, page 156)

     It was the time of new searings of black identity deep within the psyche of the black community.

2. cooking food quickly at high temperature

Verb

searing

1. present participle of sear

Anagrams

• Angries, Gainers, Gearins, Reagins, earings, erasing, gainers, inrages, raignes, reagins, regains, regians, reginas, seringa

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.