Link Centre Dictionary

wreak

UK/ɹiːk/ US/ɹik/ uncommon archaic literary

verb

1.

cause to happen or to occur as a consequence

  • “I cannot work a miracle”
  • “wreak havoc”
  • “bring comments”
  • “play a joke”
  • “The rain brought relief to the drought-stricken area”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English wreken, from Old English wrecan, from Proto-West Germanic *wrekan, from Proto-Germanic *wrekaną, from Proto-Indo-European *wreg- (“push, shove, drive, track down”). Cognate via Proto-Germanic with Dutch wreken, German rächen, Swedish vräka; cognate via PIE with Latin urgēre (English urge), and distantly cognate with English wreck.

Phrases

  • wreak havoc

Related words

Broader terms

See also

Related verbs

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.