wrathful
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Meaning
full of or characterized by intense anger
Structure
Usage
the king's wrathful expression silenced the entire court.
she wrote a wrathful letter to the editor condemning the injustice.
in the myth, the gods were wrathful when their temples were defiled.
Etymology
The word 'wrathful' is a native English formation, built from two Old English components. The root 'wrath' originates from the Old English 'wræððu', meaning 'anger, fury', which itself is derived from the Proto-Germanic 'wraiþō', conveying a sense of being twisted or angry. The suffix '-ful' comes from the Old English '-full', an adjectival suffix literally meaning 'full of'. Therefore, the literal construction 'full of wrath' has remained semantically transparent, directly describing a state of intense, often righteous, anger. This straightforward compounding illustrates how English can create descriptive adjectives by attaching native suffixes to existing nouns.
Analysis
wrath (old english, meaning 'anger, fury') + ful (old english, an adjective-forming suffix meaning 'full of, characterized by')