wrought
wrought Lexical Profile
wrought Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Beaten out or shaped by hammering, especially of metals.
"The historic courtyard is enclosed by an ornate gate made of heavy wrought iron."
Carefully, finely, or elaborately fashioned, crafted, or constructed.
"Her latest novel is a finely wrought portrait of family life in nineteenth-century rural England."
Deeply stirred, excited, or agitated (especially in compounds or with "up").
"The audience remained in a highly wrought state of suspense until the final act concluded."
• verb
To cause, effect, or bring about a significant change or result (used as an archaic or literary past tense and past participle of "work").
"The rapid expansion of digital technology has wrought profound changes across the publishing industry."
Word Nuance & Usage
"Wrought" is frequently confused with "wreaked" (as in "wreaked havoc") because it is an archaic past tense of "work", not "wreak". While "worked" is standard for almost all modern senses of the verb, "wrought" survives in elevated prose to mean "brought about" and as an adjective for shaped metal, such as "wrought iron".
• Rhymes for wrought
Word Origin & Etymology
From Middle English wroght, from Old English geworht, the past participle of wyrcan ("to work"), altered by metathesis of the "r" and vowel.