wreck
Americannoun
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wrecks
plural
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any building, structure, or thing reduced to a state of ruin.
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wreckage, goods, etc., remaining above water after a shipwreck, especially when cast ashore.
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the ruin or destruction of a vessel in the course of navigation; shipwreck.
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a vessel in a state of ruin from disaster at sea, on rocks, etc.
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the ruin or destruction of anything.
the wreck of one's hopes.
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a person of ruined health; someone in bad shape physically or mentally.
The strain of his work left him a wreck.
verb (used with object)
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wrecks,
present (3rd person singular)
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wrecked,
past participle, past
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wrecking
present participle
verb
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to involve in or suffer disaster or destruction
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(tr) to cause the wreck of (a ship)
noun
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the accidental destruction of a ship at sea
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the ship so destroyed
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maritime law goods cast ashore from a wrecked vessel
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a person or thing that has suffered ruin or dilapidation
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the remains of something that has been destroyed
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old-fashioned the act of wrecking or the state of being wrecked; ruin or destruction
Usage
What does wreck mean? To wreck something is to destroy, ruin, or severely damage it. It’s commonly used in the context of the destruction of physical objects, as in He wrecked the car when he hit the tree. Nonphysical things can also be wrecked, as in Tom’s poor planning wrecked his chances of finishing his homework in time to go to baseball practice. Wreck is also commonly used as a noun referring to something that has been destroyed or turned into a ruin, such as a building, as in All that was left of the house after the fire was a burnt wreck. Wreck is often used figuratively to describe a person who is in bad health or who is emotionally or mentally unwell, as in Stress reduces him to a nervous wreck. Wreck is also used in a more specific way to refer to sunken or destroyed ships, as in The diver went to the bottom of the sea to explore the wreck. The word shipwreck means the same thing. The word wreckage refers to the remains of something that has been wrecked. Example: I cried so much at the end of that movie that I was an emotional wreck for the rest of the day.
Synonym Usage
See spoil.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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wrecksimple
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wreckssimple
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have wreckedperfect
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has wreckedperfect
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am wreckingprogressive
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are wreckingprogressive
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is wreckingprogressive
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have been wreckingperfect progressive
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has been wreckingperfect progressive
Past
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wreckedsimple
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had wreckedperfect
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was wreckingprogressive
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were wreckingprogressive
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had been wreckingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of wreck
First recorded in 1200–50; (noun) Middle English wrec, wrech, wrek, from Old Danish wrækæ “wreck”; (verb) late Middle English, derivative of the noun
Explanation
A wreck is something that's been destroyed. Your hair might be a wreck after a bad day at the barber. Your car might be a wreck after you hit a telephone pole. Your house might be a wreck after a visit from 3-year-old twins. You might be an emotional wreck after a fight with your boyfriend. A sunken ship is a wreck, or a shipwreck. When you hit that telephone pole, you’ve had a wreck, and you can also call your mangled car a wreck. When you’re next heading out with the car keys, you mom might say, "Don't wreck the car!,” hoping you’ll bring it back in one piece.
Vocabulary lists containing wreck
"Return to Titanic" and "Talking with Robert Ballard"
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Commonly Confused Words, List 3
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
This bull market, or melt-up, has been earnings-led, whereas the previous one was valuation-led, which makes it more sustainable and less troubling than what led to the tech wreck.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
The wreck was discovered in 2016, and both the vessel and its cargo have been investigated several times since then.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
Part of Ferrell’s man-child trilogy with Adam McKay, the film follows a blowhard racecar driver as he works his way back to the winner’s circle following a dramatic and embarrassing wreck.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
In 1946, Navy divers used explosives to break open the wreck in an attempt to recover remains.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
It's fascinating, maddening, a train wreck you can't pull your eyes away from, however morbid.
From "How It Went Down" by Kekla Magoon
Readers will find engrossing case studies of well-known disasters such as the Titanic and the USS Indianapolis, as well as sections on bygone Viking wrecks and the mysterious “ghost ships” of seafaring lore.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
Protected wrecks have legal protection, meaning that any disturbance or interference is only permitted under an official licence.
From BBC ● Feb. 9, 2026
For investors, it’s worth checking whether there might be some value in the wrecks and being wary of those sailing close to the wind.
From Barron's ● Jan. 30, 2026
Their film wrecks audiences with its exploration of romantic intimacy, grief and the inner lives of artists.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 25, 2025
There was no sign of violence, no wrecks, nothing like that.
From "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan
In dusty streets teeming with men in camouflage and scattered with wrecked military vehicles she scours for scenes of normality to post on the city social media pages.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
With a voice at times bitter, befuddled and bemused at his own wrecked life, Busby emerges as a self-aware, sympathetic survivor who knew his best work came at the beginning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Sniffer dogs in Japan helped rescuers Friday make a final sweep of a shopping mall wrecked by an explosion after a big earthquake, as the death toll from the tremor three days earlier hit 35.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
The brutal heat and intense working conditions inside the kitchen and the front area of the business come after a thief wrecked the rooftop air conditioning unit in search of copper wiring.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
In the mirror, there is her once-lovely face, looking gaunt and wrecked.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
Rather, he yelled at them in a private meeting, complaining that by threatening to stop the war, they were wrecking his bargaining power in the ongoing peace talks.
From Slate ● Jun. 29, 2026
Companies that are too quick to lay off workers on the assumption that AI can do their jobs risk wrecking their future competitiveness in two ways.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
They’ll be digging into why money stress is wrecking your life — and how to fix it.
From MarketWatch ● May 12, 2026
“I’m a wrecking ball to the status quo,” he said in one post.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 6, 2026
Later, the city wrecking ball knocked them to the ground.
From "Bodega Dreams" by Ernesto Quinonez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
