Refine this word faster
Wreak
Definitions
- 1 Revenge; vengeance; furious passion; resentment. archaic, literary
"VVhat barbarous mindes for grieuance more than needs, Vnnaturallie ſeeks wreake vpon their Lord, Their true annointed Prince, their lawfull king:"
- 2 Punishment; retribution; payback. archaic, literary
"Of a surety none murdered the damsel but I; take her wreak on me this moment; for, an thou do not thus, I will require it of thee before Almighty Allah."
- 1 To cause harm; to afflict; to inflict; to harm or injure; to let out harm. transitive
"The earthquake wreaked havoc in the city."
- 2 cause to happen or to occur as a consequence wordnet
- 3 To chasten, or chastise/chastize, or castigate, or punish, or smite. archaic
"The police abused their authority to wreak an innocent."
- 4 To inflict or take vengeance on. archaic
"their woe / Broods maddening inwardly and scorns to wreak / Itself abroad;"
- 5 To take vengeance for. archaic
"Come wreak his loss, whom bootless ye complain."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 Misspelling of reek. alt-of, intransitive, misspelling
"She wreaked of liquor. She also wreaked of anger, despair and unsatisfied sexuality, all mixed together."
Etymology
From Middle English wreken, from Old English wrecan, from Proto-West Germanic *wrekan, from Proto-Germanic *wrekaną, from Proto-Indo-European *wreg- (“push, shove, drive, track down”). Cognate via Proto-Germanic with Dutch wreken, German rächen, Swedish vräka; cognate via PIE with Latin urgēre (English urge), and distantly cognate with English wreck.
From Middle English wreke, wrake, Northern Middle English variants of wreche, influenced later by Etymology 1, above. Compare Dutch wraak.
See also for "wreak"
Next best steps
Mini challenge
Unscramble this word: wreak