wrathful

adjective

wrath·​ful ˈrath-fəl How to pronounce wrathful (audio)
chiefly British ˈrȯth-
Synonyms of wrathfulnext
1
: filled with wrath : irate
2
: arising from, marked by, or indicative of wrath
wrathfully
ˈrath-fə-lē How to pronounce wrathful (audio)
chiefly British ˈrȯth-
adverb
wrathfulness noun

Synonyms of wrathful

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of wrathful in a Sentence

in a wrathful voice she demanded to know what had happened
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Athletes are no strangers to wrathful comments, of course. — Mckay Coppins, The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 2026 The best scenes of the series are the simple ones between the pair, like their fizzy first date or their wrathful first fight. — Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 12 Feb. 2026 More, the whirlwind that takes them under is no mere accident but the act of a wrathful God. — Claudia Roth Pierpont, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025 The deathbed and post-death rituals include performing devotional prayers to peaceful and wrathful deities oneself. — Jue Liang, The Conversation, 12 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for wrathful

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of wrathful was in the 13th century

Browse Nearby Words

Wrath, Cape
wrathful
wrathfully
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Wrathful.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wrathful. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

wrathful

adjective
wrath·​ful ˈrath-fəl How to pronounce wrathful (audio)
1
: filled with wrath : very angry
2
: showing wrath
a wrathful expression
wrathfully
-fə-lē How to pronounce wrathful (audio)
adverb
wrathfulness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on wrathful

Nglish: Translation of wrathful for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All