What does wrathful mean?
Wrathful is an adjective describing intense anger, rage, or indignation. It is especially common in literary, historical, religious, and dramatic writing, where it can portray human fury or the anger of a god or supernatural force. The word is more emphatic and colorful than angry and may carry a sense of condemnation, menace, or moral outrage. A wrathful person is visibly or temperamentally filled with rage, while a wrathful response or scene is marked by fury and agitation. Although understood in British and American English, wrathful sounds somewhat formal in ordinary conversation, so everyday speakers usually choose furious, angry, or outraged instead. The word is useful when the anger is intended to feel powerful, dramatic, or larger than an everyday irritation. It is also sometimes used to characterize an immense natural force, such as a wrathful sea or storm, emphasizing violence and turbulence.
adjectiveCharacterized by great anger or fierce rage. It can describe a person, expression, response, or force, and is often used in literary or dramatic contexts.
- Feeling, showing, or characterized by intense anger or rage.
"The judge silenced the gallery with a wrathful glare."
"A wrathful crowd gathered outside the courthouse after the announcement."
"The poem describes the wrathful sea rising beneath a darkened sky."
Wrathful is the adjective for anger with thunder in its voice.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does wrathful come from?
Wrathful is an English formation made by adding the suffix -ful to wrath, the older word for anger or fury. Wrath descends from Old English and is related to wroth, an Old English and Middle English adjective meaning angry or hostile. The suffix -ful has long been used in English to create adjectives expressing a quality or state, so wrathful transparently means “full of wrath.”
Related word forms
How wrathful is actually used
Wrathful is more literary and dramatic than the everyday word angry. It can suggest not merely irritation but profound rage, indignation, or moral outrage.
Easily confused with wrathful
Wrath is usually a noun meaning intense anger or divine fury, whereas wrathful is an adjective describing someone or something characterized by that anger.