as in villain
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person
the clerk was an ungrateful wretch who stole money from his employer's cash register
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Recent Examples of wretch
The elegant sets and lavish costume designs are stunning, as is Jacob Elordi's multi-faceted performance as the intelligent wretch stitched together from corpses.
—
Jeff Spry, Space.com, 27 Dec. 2025
Her expressions, her movements, her delivery — all of it makes Carol more complex than just a miserable wretch.
—Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 3 Dec. 2025
Only Martin — cast as a Dickensian wretch by Bonitzer’s legion of myopic elites, but always quietly acting against type — reserves the right to determine his own worth.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 29 Oct. 2025
This mid-movie handoff dilutes the shock of how articulate the wretch proves in del Toro’s telling (the creature could barely speak in James Whale’s original Universal monster movie).
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 30 Aug. 2025
Since then, he’s been a haunted wretch of a character: stoned, sullen, stuck with recurring visions of shooting his wife and himself.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 8 Apr. 2025
As Blake transforms into a swollen, oozing wretch who gnaws frantically on his own wounds, his family appears as glowing-eyed aliens, their words a jumble of indecipherable sounds.
—Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times, 16 Jan. 2025
The wretch was one E. W. Perera, a pivotal figure in the Ceylonese independence movement—and someone the narrator had celebrated growing up in Sri Lanka.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025
Jeff Spry, Space.com, 27 Dec. 2025
Her expressions, her movements, her delivery — all of it makes Carol more complex than just a miserable wretch.
—Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 3 Dec. 2025
Only Martin — cast as a Dickensian wretch by Bonitzer’s legion of myopic elites, but always quietly acting against type — reserves the right to determine his own worth.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 29 Oct. 2025
This mid-movie handoff dilutes the shock of how articulate the wretch proves in del Toro’s telling (the creature could barely speak in James Whale’s original Universal monster movie).
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 30 Aug. 2025
Since then, he’s been a haunted wretch of a character: stoned, sullen, stuck with recurring visions of shooting his wife and himself.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 8 Apr. 2025
As Blake transforms into a swollen, oozing wretch who gnaws frantically on his own wounds, his family appears as glowing-eyed aliens, their words a jumble of indecipherable sounds.
—Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times, 16 Jan. 2025
The wretch was one E. W. Perera, a pivotal figure in the Ceylonese independence movement—and someone the narrator had celebrated growing up in Sri Lanka.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wretch
Noun
-
Sorkin finds no heroes but also no villains.—
The Know,
Denver Post,
11 Jan. 2026
-
But what Ole Miss has had to deal with is beyond the norm, with Kiffin in the villain’s role.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
For much of his career, Skarsgård has gravitated toward characters who weaponize physical presence — Vikings, tech titans and mythic brutes whose power is immediately legible.—
Clayton Davis,
Variety,
9 Jan. 2026
-
As usual, Lang plays the brute’s Heart of Darkness–esque descent into madness with gleeful relish.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
19 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
In it, Oldham costumes up as a shaggy woodland monster, which—after a more nimble inhabitant seemingly swaps into the outfit—proceeds to engage a human in an elaborate dance routine.—
Jazz Monroe,
Pitchfork,
7 Jan. 2026
-
That mentality has fueled a monster debut season for Porter County Conference leader Kouts (12-3, 4-1).—
Noah Poser,
Chicago Tribune,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Brutal, savage, and gory, this movie follows a home invasion on Christmas Eve where a mysterious woman (Béatrice Dalle) tries to steal an unborn baby right out of another woman's (Alysson Paradis) pregnant belly.—
Huntley Woods,
Entertainment Weekly,
19 Dec. 2025
-
Eleonora wearing a snake, Nicole’s Reputation hair from earlier in the season, the use of the word savage constantly and from out of nowhere.—
Anne Victoria Clark,
Vulture,
31 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Nobody wants to deal with our old devil, even if the new one comes with an encroaching open threat actively bubbling in the Caribbean and Latin America at large.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Jan. 2026
-
But Bourdain, with his devil-be-damned demeanor, somehow makes the dish feel approachable — even though the two chefs’ recipes are pretty similar.—
Gretchen McKay,
Boston Herald,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The first thing to do is to reduce the damage to the United States, the inflow of guns and criminals and immigrants and drugs into the United States, the destabilizing of a key part of the Western Hemisphere.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
11 Jan. 2026
-
Also, place freezes with ChexSystems and the National Consumer Telecom and Utilities Exchange to stop criminals from opening bank accounts, phone lines, or utility services in his name.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
11 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Boardman imposed a sentence of 97 months, citing Roske’s mental health and concerns about incarceration conditions and his status as a first-time criminal offender.—
Kaelan Deese,
The Washington Examiner,
8 Jan. 2026
-
Since 2013, the law has allowed juvenile offenders serving life without parole to petition to have their sentence recalled and to be resentenced.—
Teri Figueroa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The hardest part of scaling this 5,200 foot beast?—
Ariana Quihuiz,
PEOPLE,
12 Jan. 2026
-
Orion was getting the best of the beast.—
Mike Lynch,
Twin Cities,
11 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Wretch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wretch. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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