wretchedness

Meanings

nounwretchedness (usually uncountable, plural wretchednesses)

uncountableusuallyAn unhappy state of mental or physical suffering.
She saw only that he was quiet and unobtrusive, and she liked him for it. He did not disturb the wretchedness of her mind by ill-timed conversation.
1811, Jane Austen, chapter 3, in Sense and Sensibility
Synonyms: misery, unhappiness, blueness, tristesse, mirthlessness, blues, crestfallenness, dejection
uncountableusuallyA state of prolonged misfortune, privation, or anguish.

nounAn unhappy state of mental or physical suffering.

nouna state of ill-being due to affliction or misfortune

Similar

Broader

Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

From Middle English wrecchednesse; equivalent to wretched + -ness.

More words from Middle English

German Erbarmungswürdigkeit, Armseligkeit

Indonesian kenistaan

Cite this entry

APA

wretchedness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wretchedness

MLA

“wretchedness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wretchedness. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wretchedness,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wretchedness.