wretchedness

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

wretchedness
    n 1: a state of ill-being due to affliction or misfortune; "the
         misery and wretchedness of those slums is intolerable"
         [syn: {misery}, {wretchedness}, {miserableness}]
    2: the character of being uncomfortable and unpleasant; "the
       wretchedness for which these prisons became known"; "the grey
       wretchedness of the rain"
    3: the quality of being poor and inferior and sorry; "he has
       compiled a record second to none in its wretchedness"

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Wretchedness \Wretch"ed*ness\, n.
   1. The quality or state of being wretched; utter misery.
      --Sir W. Raleigh.
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   2. A wretched object; anything despicably. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

            Eat worms and such wretchedness.      --Chaucer.
      [1913 Webster]