different between wretched vs awful
wretched
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)
- Very miserable; feeling deep affliction or distress.
- I felt wretched after my wife died.
- Worthless; paltry; very poor or mean; miserable.
- The street was full of wretched beggars dressed in rags.
- (obsolete) Hatefully contemptible; despicable; wicked.
- (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
- Misspelling of retched.
wretched From the web:
- what wretched means
- what wretched man i am
- what's wretched
- what wretched weather
- wretchedness meaning
- what wretched means in spanish
- what wretched sentence
- what's wretched in french
awful
English
Alternative forms
- awfull (archaic), aweful (obsolete), awefull (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English agheful, awfull, auful, a?efull, equivalent to awe +? -ful. Compare Old English e?eful, e?efull (“terrifying; awful”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /???f?l/, /???f?l/
- (General American) IPA(key): /??f?l/
- (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /??f?l/
- Rhymes: -??f?l
- Homophone: offal (some accents)
Adjective
awful (comparative awfuller or more awful, superlative awfullest or most awful)
- Very bad.
- My socks smell awful.
- We saw such an awful film last night that we left the theater before the end.
- Exceedingly great; usually applied intensively.
- an awful bonnet
- I have learnt an awful amount today.
- (now dated) Causing fear or horror; appalling, terrible.
- 1839, J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Schalken the Painter
- There was an air of gravity and importance about the garb of the person, and something indescribably odd, I might say awful, in the perfect, stonelike stillness of the figure, that effectually checked the testy comment which had at once risen to the lips of the irritated artist.
- 1839, J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Schalken the Painter
- (now rare) Inspiring awe; filling with profound reverence or respect; profoundly impressive.
- 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.143:
- And then she stopped, and stood as if in awe / (For sleep is awful) […].
- 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.143:
- (now rare) Struck or filled with awe.
- (obsolete) Terror-stricken.
- Worshipful; reverential; law-abiding.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:frightening
Derived terms
- awfulness
- awfully
Translations
Adverb
awful (not comparable)
- (colloquial) Awfully; dreadfully; terribly.
- (colloquial, US, Canada) Very, extremely.
- That's an awful big house.
- She seemed awful nice when I met her yesterday.
- He was blubbering away something awful.
Translations
See also
- awfully
Further reading
- awful in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- awful in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
awful From the web:
- what awful means
- what awful things happened in 2020
- what awful weather
- what awful weather she said
- what awful news
- what awful weather we are experiencing
- what does awful mean
- what is meant by awful
Share
Tweet
+1
Share
Pin
Like
Send
Share
you may also like
- wretched vs awful
- hot vs impassioned
- nimbleness vs address
- humanity vs mildness
- indispensable vs considerable
- flatter vs entice
- questionable vs shady
- wroth vs choleric
- blame vs reprehension
- infringement vs contention
- creep vs trip
- burning vs excitable
- refulgent vs clear
- powerlessness vs incapability
- disturbance vs heed
- still vs aloof
- subsistence vs endurance
- weak vs backward
- prosaic vs stodgy
- lovesick vs affectionate