DictionaryAI

wreak

SayREEK/ɹik/UK/ɹiːk/

Formswreaks, wreaking, wreaked

6 meanings of wreak

Practice

  1. 1
    verbtransitive
    To cause a lot of harm or damage, or to take out anger on someone or something.

    Strong winds can wreak havoc on a garden.

    She wreaked her frustration on the punching bag.

    Similarcause, inflict, unleash

    Note
  2. 2
    verbarchaic
    To get revenge on someone, or to punish them for something bad they did to you.

    The villain swore to wreak revenge on the hero.

    their woe / Broods maddening inwardly and scorns to wreak / Itself abroad;
    1874, James Thomson, The City of Dreadful NightHere, wreak means take vengeance, so their pain refuses to strike out at others.
    Note
  3. 3
    verbarchaic
    To get revenge for something bad that happened, like a loss or a death.

    The young knight swore to wreak his father's death.

    Come wreak his loss, whom bootless ye complain.
    1600, [Torquato Tasso], Godfrey of BulloigneHere, wreak means take revenge for his loss.
    Note

Less common meanings

  1. 4
    nounarchaic
    Revenge, or a strong angry feeling against someone.

    The prince swore to take wreak on the men who killed his father.

    However, no thought touch'd Minerva's mind, That any one should escape his wreak design'd.
    1903, George Chapman, Richard Herne ShepherdHere, wreak means revenge, the punishment he had planned for anyone.
    Note
  2. 5
    nounarchaic
    Punishment that someone gets back for a bad thing they did.
    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.
    1885, “The Tale of the Three Apples”, in Sir Richard BurtonHere, wreak means punishment, so punish me for her death right now.
    Note
  3. 6
    verbarchaic
    To punish someone, with harsh words or by hitting them.

Use it in a sentence

Write your own sentence with wreak, and AI will tell you whether it fits and which meaning you used.

Origins

Meanings 1–3

From the Old English word wrecan, from a very old root meaning "push" or "drive". It is related to "urge" and, distantly, to "wreck".

Meanings 4–5

From Middle English wreke or wrake, northern forms of wreche, later influenced by the other word wreak.