wretched

In medieval Europe, leprosy was seen as a kind of transfigurative suffering: Those with the condition were believed to be so wretched in this life that they were virtually guaranteed respite in the hereafter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

In that case, you will likely find yourself traveling to or from the concourse on a wretched holdover of mid-century transportation design: the people mover.

From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026

During a wretched run between December and January, Palace's season threatened to unravel, both on and off the pitch.

From BBC ● May 27, 2026

It is in the hands of De Zerbi and his players to avoid such ignominy - but their form in a wretched campaign points to a day of discomfort when they face Everton.

From BBC ● May 19, 2026

They vowed to heal the sick, care for the injured, and give aid to the wretched and impoverished.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

Yes," sighed Lady Jean; "but Moira would be wretcheder because she would always be thinking of Reggy.

From Stories That End Well An Adventure in Altruria——Through the Terrors of the Law——The Real Thing——The Old Partisan——Max—Or His Picture——The Stout Miss Hopkins' Bicycle——The Spellbinder——The Object of the Federation——The Little Lonely Girl——The Hero of Company G——A Miracle Play by Octave Thanet

There’s nowt more wretcheder an we,    Or worthier an the rich, I praises ’em for bein’ born,    An’ ’eaven for makin’ sich.

From The Humourous Story of Farmer Bumpkin's Lawsuit by Richard Harris

"The wretcheder are the contemners of all helps."

From The Grammar of English Grammars by Goold Brown

Yes, so they have; though not many wretcheder things. 

From The Hand of Ethelberta by Thomas Hardy

And made me mount upon the bare ridge, T' avoid a wretcheder miscarriage.

From Hudibras by Samuel Butler

In the wretchedest slum quarter of Partinico. a pinched little town near Palermo, a man lay starving last week.

From Time Magazine Archive

Last week, on the 19th anniversary of that historic Dempsey-Carpentier battle, Jersey City was the scene of another heavyweight prize fight that will probably go down in history as the wretchedest of the post-Dempsey era.

From Time Magazine Archive

Am I not the very wretchedest creature that breathes? and so much the poorer, for that a few hours since I deemed myself the happiest.

From The Old Man of the Mountain, The Lovecharm and Pietro of Abano Tales from the German of Tieck by Ludwig Tieck

Down by the Docks, the apothecary sets up in business on the wretchedest scale—chiefly on lint and plaster for the strapping of wounds—and with no bright bottles, and with no little drawers. 

From The Uncommercial Traveller by Charles Dickens

I saw the Husband not long since; one of the wretchedest Phantasms, it seemed to me, I had yet fallen in with,—many, many, as they are here.

From The Correspondence of Thomas Carlyle and Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1834-1872, Vol. I by Thomas Carlyle