Wretchedness

Pronunciation

Origin

wretched + -ness

Full definition of wretchedness

Noun

1. An unhappy state of mental or physical suffering.
• 1811, Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, chapter 3She saw only that he was quiet and unobtrusive, and she liked him for it. He did not disturb the wretchedness of her mind by ill-timed conversation.
2. A state of prolonged misfortune, privation, or anguish.