beshrew means to invoke or wish evil upon; to curse. It carries an Arena rating of 1676, earned across 34 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, beshrew ranks #101 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #995 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #1,141 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #2,795 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words.
Why “beshrew” is a great word
BESHREW — [Verb] To invoke or wish evil upon; to curse, often as a mild or playful imprecation. From Middle English beschrewen ("to curse, pervert"), from the intensive prefix be- (thoroughly) + shrew in its obsolete verb sense "to curse"; first attested around 1325. Unlike "damn," which invokes divine judgment, or "execrate," which implies a profound, formal loathing, to beshrew is to whisper a pinprick of mischief. It is a grandmother’s theatrical sigh over a spilled cup of tea, a lover’s feigned exasperation whispered after a missed rendezvous, or the gentle malediction one mutters at a tangled skein of thread—a fossilized gesture of displeasure so polite it confesses our modern inability to mean a curse at all.
Etymology
From Middle English beschrewen (“to curse, pervert”). By surface analysis, be- + shrew.
verb
- To invoke or wish evil upon; to curse.e.g.“Beshrew me, but you have a quick wit.” — c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]
- An imperative uttered as a mildly imprecatory or merely expletive introductory exclamation.e.g.“Beshrew your heart, fair daughter!” — c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isa
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.