wrath means great anger; (countable) an instance of this. It carries an Arena rating of 1538, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, wrath ranks #1,079 of 42,747 for Qualifying, #1,748 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #2,911 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #4,592 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
wrath is pronounced /ɹɒθ/.
Why “wrath” is a great word
Wrath is strong vengeful anger, often implying righteous indignation or divine retribution. From Middle English wratthe, from Old English wrǣþþu ("ire, wrath"), from Proto-West Germanic *wraiþiþu ("anger, fury"), from *wraiþ ("angry, furious") (from Proto-Germanic *wraiþaz, from Proto-Indo-European *wreyt- ("to twist")) + the abstract noun suffix *-iþu. Unlike anger—a common currency of human displeasure—or fury—a wild and mindless rage—wrath is the cold, coiled tension of a wrong that demands, and will exact, a price. It is the searing clarity of a betrayed king's decree, the ominous silence before a storm of biblical retribution, and the slow, corrosive heat of a grudge nursed for decades—a fire not of chaos, but of terrible, calculated justice, burning not for release, but for reckoning.
Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English wratthe (“anger, hostility, distress retribution”) [and other forms], from Old English wrǣþþu (“ire, wrath”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *wraiþiþu (“anger, fury, wrath”), from *wraiþ (“angry, furious, wroth; hostile, violent; bent, twisted”) (from Proto-Germanic *wraiþaz (“angry, furious, wroth; hostile, violent; bent, twisted”), from Proto-Indo-European *wreyt- (“to twist”)) + *-iþu (suffix forming abstract nouns). Effectively analysable as wroth + -th (abstract nominal suffix); compare Dutch wreedte. The verb is derived from Middle English wratthen (“to be or become angry, to rage; to quarrel; to cause wrath, offend; to become troubled or vexed; to cause grief or harm, grieve, vex”) [and other forms], from wratthe, wretthe (noun) (s
noun
- Great anger; (countable) an instance of this.e.g.“Homer relates an episode in the Trojan War that reveals the tragic consequences of the wrath of Achilles.”
- Punishment, retribution, or vengeance resulting from anger; (countable) an instance of this.e.g.“the wrath of God”
- Great ardour or passion.e.g.“[T]hey are in the verie vvrath of loue, and they vvill together. Clubbes cannot part them.” — c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, publ
verb
- To anger (someone); to enrage.e.g.“[R]emembre howe by thy cursed synnes thou haste offended and wrathed thy lorde god.” — [1506?], Jacobus van Gruitroede, translated by [Margaret Beaufort], The Mirroure of Golde for the Synfull Soule, London: […] Richarde Pynson, →OCLC, folio 12, verso:
- To become angry with (someone).
- To become angry.e.g.“"Nay, wrath thee not, Will," said Ganlesse; "and speak no words in haste, lest you may have cause to repent at leisure.[…]"” — 1822, [Walter Scott], chapter X, in Peveril of the Peak. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 267:
adj
- Synonym of wroth (“full of anger; wrathful”).
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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