verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb

1. 1
   To invoke or wish evil upon; to curse. archaic, transitive

   "Beshrew me, but you have a quick wit."

2. 2
   wish harm upon; invoke evil upon wordnet
3. 3
   An imperative uttered as a mildly imprecatory or merely expletive introductory exclamation. transitive

   "Beshrew your heart, fair daughter!"

Synonyms

All synonyms

anathemiseanathemizebedamncursecursedamn

Example

More examples

"Beshrew me, but you have a quick wit."

Etymology

From Middle English beschrewen (“to curse, pervert”). By surface analysis, be- + shrew.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.