wrath
English
Etymology
From Middle English wraththe, wreththe, from Old English wrǣþþu (“wrath, fury”), from Proto-West Germanic *wraiþiþu (“wrath, fury”), equivalent to wroth + -th. Compare Dutch wreedte (“cruelty”), Danish vrede (“anger”), Swedish vrede (“wrath, anger, ire”), Icelandic reiði (“anger”). More at wroth.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɹɒθ/, /ɹɔːθ/
- Rhymes: -ɒθ, -ɔːθ
- Homophone: wroth (some speakers)
- (General American) IPA(key): /ɹæθ/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -æθ
- (New Zealand) IPA(key): /ɹæθ/, /ɹɔθ/
Noun
wrath (usually uncountable, plural wraths)
- (formal or old-fashioned) Great anger.
- Synonyms: fury, ire
- Homer relates an episode in the Trojan War that reveals the tragic consequences of the wrath of Achilles.
- 1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 228732415, book I, page 17:
- For when he knew his Rival freed and gone, / He ſwells with Wrath; he makes outrageous Moan: / He frets, he fumes, he ſtares, he ſtamps the Ground; / The hollow Tow'r with Clamours rings around: […]
- 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest:
- The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite. […] Can those harmless but refined fellow-diners be the selfish cads whose gluttony and personal appearance so raised your contemptuous wrath on your arrival?
- (rare) Punishment.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Romans 13:4:
- A revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
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Usage notes
- The pronunciation with the vowel /æ/ is regarded as incorrect by many British English speakers.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
great anger
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Verb
wrath (third-person singular simple present wraths, present participle wrathing, simple past and past participle wrathed)
Further reading
- “wrath” in the Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for wrath in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913)
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