Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

wretched

UK /ˈɹɛt͡ʃɪd/ · US /ˈɹɛt͡ʃəd/ adjective

  1. adjective Characterized by or feeling deep affliction or distress; very miserable. “I felt wretched after my wife died.”
  2. adjective Of an inferior or unworthy nature or social status; contemptible, lowly. “The street was full of wretched beggars dressed in rags.”
  3. adjective Of an insignificant, mean, or poor nature; miserable, paltry, worthless. “I just lack the fine motor skill. Same reason I'm a grown man who doesn't know how to use a screwdriver without looking like a retard. Oh, I'm wretched.”
  4. adjective Of a person, etc.: behaving in a manner causing contempt; base, despicable, wicked.
  5. adjective Of weather: causing much discomfort; very unpleasant; miserable.
  6. adjective (informal) Used to express annoyance towards or dislike of someone or something: bloody, damned. “Will you please stop playing that wretched trombone!”

Synonyms

dejected wretchful atrabiliary atrabilious deplorable depressing distressing grievous heartbreaking heartrending miserable lamentable lachrymable mournful regrettable rueful sad saddening sorrowful tragic execrable woeful suffering despicable ugly vile slimy unworthy worthless hapless

Etymology

From Middle English wrecched (“(adjective) characterized by or suffering hardship or misfortune, miserable, unfortunate, unhappy; indigent, poor; of low economic or social status, lowly; (noun) miserable person”) [and other forms], from wrecche (“characterized by or suffering hardship or misfortune, miserable, unfortunate, unhappy; indigent, poor; of low economic or social status, lowly; base, contemptible, vile; reprehensible, wicked; miserly, stingy; of little importance, paltry, worthless”) (from Late Old English wrecc, from Old English wreċċa (“an exile, outcast”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wreg- (“to follow, track; to hunt”)) + -ed (suffix forming adjectives). The English word is analysable as wretch (“(obsolete) wretched”, adjective) + -ed (suffix forming adjectives).

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Very miserable; sunk in, or accompanied by, deep affliction or distress, as from want, anxiety, or grief; calamitous; woeful; very afflicting. "To what wretched state reserved!" Milton.
  2. adjective Worthless; paltry; very poor or mean; miserable; as, a wretched poem; a wretched cabin.

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “wretched”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details

Sanskrit

Sanskrit dictionary entries whose meaning includes “wretched” (best matches first).

All 19 Sanskrit matches →