wretched Meaning, Definition & Usage

adjective satellite of very poor quality or condition
miserable; execrable; deplorable; woeful.
- deplorable housing conditions in the inner city
- woeful treatment of the accused
- woeful errors of judgment
adjective satellite characterized by physical misery
miserable.
- a wet miserable weekend
- spent a wretched night on the floor
adjective satellite very unhappy; full of misery
miserable; suffering.
- he felt depressed and miserable
- a message of hope for suffering humanity
- wretched prisoners huddled in stinking cages
adjective satellite morally reprehensible
worthless; unworthy; vile; slimy; ugly; despicable.
- would do something as despicable as murder
- ugly crimes
- the vile development of slavery appalled them
- a slimy little liar
adjective satellite deserving or inciting pity
poor; pathetic; pitiable; piteous; misfortunate; miserable; pitiful; hapless.
- a hapless victim
- miserable victims of war
- the shabby room struck her as extraordinarily pathetic"- Galsworthy
- piteous appeals for help
- pitiable homeless children
- a pitiful fate
- Oh, you poor thing
- his poor distorted limbs
- a wretched life

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.
O cruel! Death! to those you are more kind Than to the wretched mortals left behind. Waller.

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore . . .
Worthless; paltry; very poor or mean; miserable; as, a wretched poem; a wretched cabin.
Hatefully contemptible; despicable; wicked. Obs. "Wretched ungratefulness." Sir P. Sidney.
Nero reigned after this Claudius, of all men wretchedest, ready to all manner [of] vices. Capgrave.