to wrack

Examples

• All

• Eventually, you will come upon a village wracked by an inexplicable plague.

  Beau Is Afraid (2023)

• When a country is wracked by war or weakened by want, its people suffer first.

• Certainly that night when that happened, he was just wracked by grief.

  Julian Dorey

• There are times when I am beset with confusion, when I am wracked with doubt.

  Fiction book (2001)

• The challenge will be much greater in countries wracked by poverty, illness, and illiteracy in the aftermath of war.

  Academic text (2005)

• For 27 years, it was wracked by a civil war that left the now-peaceful nation in shambles.

  Academic text (2005)

• The union emerged from the elections wracked by ethnic conflict and discontent over wage differentials.

  Academic text (1990)

• And as sleepless nights pile up, the bedroom can start to carry associations of restless nights wracked with anxiety.

• The community was wracked by a devastating storm that destroyed many homes.

• After the scandal, the politician was wracked with shame and regret over his actions.

Synonyms

D

to devastate

vsto wrack

256 4.9

To destroy something greatly or make people feel deeply shocked and sad

focuses on both physical damage and causing great suffering

W

to wreck

vsto wrack

233 2.9

To badly damage or destroy something

includes that forceful damage but also extends to causing great suffering

W

to wreak

vsto wrack

70 7.5

To cause great harm or damage to people and things

emphasizes causing damage or suffering rather than only triggering events

B

to bust up

vsto wrack

• Informal

52 5.8

To break something into pieces by hitting it hard

is broader, covering lasting harm and suffering beyond simple breaking

R

to ravage

vsto wrack

46 6.6

To damage a place or thing very badly

also covers harm to people and emotional suffering, not only material loss

S

to scourge

vsto wrack

• Formal

2 9.1

To cause great suffering or damage

also includes sudden physical destruction as well as lasting suffering

Antonyms

H

to heal

726 1.2

To become healthy again after an injury, illness, or emotional pain

P

to preserve

504 3.4

To keep people and things safe from harm or change

Compounds

W

wrack and ruin

• Archaic

1 7.8

A state when something is very broken and falling apart

S

sea wrack

• UK

1 8.4

Dead seaweed and other sea plants washed up on the shore

S

serrated wrack

• Specialized

1 9.6

A brown seaweed with saw-toothed edges that grows on rocky seashores

G

grass wrack

• UK

9.4

Long underwater plant with thin leaves that grows near coasts

How Damaged

to annihilate

• NSFW

58 7.5

to devastate

256 4.9

to wrack

• Archaic

32 8.7

to damage

323 1.4

to injure

10 1.6

Surface Forms

Etymology