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

But not before Peter has wreaked all kinds of further havoc, including assaults on a schoolbus full of the boy’s classmates, and on the unfortunate family of Joey, who becomes another abductee. —Dennis Harvey, Variety, 15 Jan. 2025

The closest analogy to what Whannell is trying to do here isn’t a werewolf movie so much as David Cronenberg’s The Fly (1986), which turned a ’50s B-movie into a gory, gooey interpretation of the havoc disease wreaks on those suffering from both sides of the hospital bed. —David Fear, Rolling Stone, 15 Jan. 2025

This omission wreaks of the same pettiness that led to several other Ngannou scrubs from UFC production. —Brian Mazique, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2024

This moment of macho triumph is short-lived, however, because Wulf eventually returns with an army at his back to wreak vengeance on Rohan. —Christian Holub, EW.com, 15 Dec. 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

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Kids Definition

wreak

verb

ˈrēk 

: to bring down in or as if in punishment

wreak revenge on the enemy

the storm wreaked destruction