wretch

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noun \ ˈrech \

Updated on: 11 Sep 2017

Definition of wretch

1 :a miserable person :one who is profoundly unhappy or in great misfortune

2 :a base, despicable, or vile person

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Examples of wretch in a Sentence

The poor wretch lost his job.
the clerk was an ungrateful wretch who stole money from his employer's cash register

Recent Examples of wretch from the Web

One of the police said, ‘Let these wretches suffer.

— francisco goldman, The New Yorker, "The Story Behind the Fire That Killed Forty Teen-Age Girls in a Guatemalan Children’s Home," 19 Mar. 2017
Immediately an unearthly chorus of wails answered the poor wretch from his friends outside the walls.

— william gurstelle, Popular Mechanics, "The Most Gruesome Government Report Ever Written Evaluates 34 Ways to Execute a Man," 16 Mar. 2017
Scaramucci has a plan for winning over the pitiful wretches, however.

— vanityfair.com, VanityFair.com, "Top Trump Adviser: Non-Rich Congressmen “Are F--king Jackasses”," 23 Jan. 2017
Scaramucci has a plan for winning over the pitiful wretches, however.

— bess levin, The Hive, "Top Trump Adviser: Non-Rich Congressmen “Are F--king Jackasses”," 23 Jan. 2017
Mark Twain comes along and, in a three-to-four-page comic rant about the animal, gives us a way to think of it as a cowardly, despicable little wretch that lives off carrion.

— National Geographic, "How the Most Hated Animal in America Outwitted Us All," 7 Aug. 2016
Only an actor of Hoffman's caliber could've imbued such a wretch with that sort of complexity, even dignity.

— dustin krcatovich, Esquire, "Philip Seymour Hoffman's Disturbing, Beautiful Role in Happiness," 4 Feb. 2014

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'wretch.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of wretch

Middle English wrecche, going back to Old English wræcca, wrecce "exile, stranger, despicable person," going back to Germanic *wrakjan- "someone pursued, exile" (whence Old Saxon wrekkio "stranger," Old High German reccho, reccheo, recko "person banished, stranger"), noun derivative of *wrekan- "to pursue" — more at wreak

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First Known Use: before 12th century

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