wreak

verb

ˈrēk 

also

ˈrek 

wreaked; wreaking; wreaks

transitive verb

1

: bring about, cause

wreak havoc

2

a

: to cause the infliction of (vengeance or punishment)

b

archaic : avenge

3

: to give free play or course to (malevolent feeling)

Did you know?

In its early days, wreak was synonymous with avenge, a meaning exemplified when Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus proclaims "We will solicit heaven, and move the gods / To send down Justice for to wreak our wrongs." This sense is now archaic, but the association hasn't been lost: although wreak is today most often paired with havoc, it is also still sometimes paired with vengeance. We humbly suggest you avoid wreaking either, no matter how badly you may crave your just deserts.

Examples of wreak in a Sentence

Gangs have been wreaking mayhem in the city.

Recent Examples on the Web

The nip turns her into a bloodthirsty zombie, wreaking gory vengeance that leaves her son caring for their infected neighbors and, eventually, a demented infant. —Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 26 Apr. 2024

What havoc can be wreaked in that 30-minute period? —Rachel Wegner, USA TODAY, 11 Apr. 2024

Israel’s ground and aerial bombardment campaign, begun after the Hamas attack Oct. 7, has wreaked unprecedented damage on the strip, leveling entire apartment buildings and leaving much of the territory in ruins, a moonscape from war. —NBC News, 9 Apr. 2024

The downsides to high military spending include concerns that such spending is economically unsustainable, is wasteful, and wreaks environmental havoc—militaries are responsible for about 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a Conflict and Environment Observatory report. —Sunny Nagpaul, Fortune, 8 Apr. 2024

Within two months, researchers say, the offensive already has wreaked more destruction than the razing of Syria's Aleppo between 2012 and 2016, Ukraine's Mariupol or, proportionally, the Allied bombing of Germany in World War II. —Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 5 Apr. 2024

Now, 54 years later, the recent cyberattack on Change Healthcare is wreaking similar havoc on the economic infrastructure of the healthcare system. —Seth Joseph, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024

The crisis in Haiti intensified early this month as rival gangs began wreaking coordinated havoc, security sources said. —Colin McCullough, CNN, 18 Mar. 2024

Fissure eruptions on land, such as the current one, produce little ash and usually wreak no havoc on air travel. —TIME, 8 Feb. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English wreken "to drive out, avenge, vent, express (anger, etc.)," going back to Old English wrecan "to press forward, drive out, banish, avenge, punish," going back to Germanic *wrekan- "to drive out, pursue" (whence Old Saxon wrekan "to avenge," Old High German rehhan, Old Norse reka "to drive, thrust, take vengeance," Gothic wrikan "to persecute"), of uncertain origin

Note: Placed by some under Indo-European *u̯reg- "follow a track" (whence, allegedly, Sanskrit vrajant- "wandering," Latin urgēre "to press, weigh down"), though the semantic relations between compared forms are not close.

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2b

Phrases Containing wreak

• wreak havoc

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!

Kids Definition

wreak

verb

ˈrēk 

: to bring down in or as if in punishment

wreak revenge on the enemy

the storm wreaked destruction