# wrath

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɹɒθ/ · frequency rank #11,328

## Definitions
1. Great anger; (countable) an instance of this.
2. Punishment, retribution, or vengeance resulting from anger; (countable) an instance of this.
3. Great ardour or passion.

## Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English wraththe, wreththe (“anger, fury, rage; animosity, hostility; deadly sin of wrath; distress, vexation; punishment; retribution (?)”) [and other forms], from Old English wrǣþþu (“ire, wrath”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *wraiþiþu (“anger, fury, wrath”), from *wraiþ (“angry, furious, wroth; hostile, violent; bent, twisted”) (from Proto-Germanic *wraiþaz (“angry, furious, wroth; hostile, violent; bent, twisted”), from Proto-Indo-European *wreyt- (“to twist”)) + *-iþu (suffix forming abstract nouns). Effectively analysable as wroth + -th (abstract nominal suffix).
The verb is derived from Middle English wratthen (“to be or become angry, to rage; to quarrel; to cause wrath, offend; to become troubled or vexed; to cause grief or harm, grieve, vex”) [and other forms], from wraththe, wreththe (noun) (see above) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs).
Cognates
* Danish vrede (“anger, wrath”)
* Dutch wreedte (“cruelty”)
* Icelandic reiði (“anger”)
* Swedish vrede (“anger, ire, wrath”)

## Easily confused with
- **WTH** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wrath-vs-wth)
- **writ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wrath-vs-writ)
- **Wray** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wrath-vs-wray)
- **wrote** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wrath-vs-wrote)
- **write** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wrath-vs-write)
- **Wyatt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wrath-vs-wyatt)
- **Wyeth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wrath-vs-wyeth)
- **wreath** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wrath-vs-wreath)
- **wretch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wrath-vs-wretch)
- **wreaths** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wrath-vs-wreaths)
- **wah** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wah-vs-wrath)
- **wat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wat-vs-wrath)
- **with** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/with-vs-wrath)
- **what** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/what-vs-wrath)
- **wash** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wash-vs-wrath)
- **wrap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wrap-vs-wrath)
- **watt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/watt-vs-wrath)
- **woah** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/woah-vs-wrath)
- **watch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/watch-vs-wrath)
- **worth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/worth-vs-wrath)

## Common misspellings (8)
`rwath`, `warth`, `wraht`, `wrathh`, `wratth`, `wrrath`, `wrtah`, `wwrath`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/wrath