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 first time, Julian’s children (James Corden, Jessica Gunning) seemed like miserable, greedy wretches.
—
Brent Lang, Variety, 11 Apr. 2026
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
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
Brent Lang, Variety, 11 Apr. 2026
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wretch
Noun
-
Her bone-chilling performance earned her the MTV Movie Award for best villain, beating out the likes of Daniel Day-Lewis, Mike Myers, Willem Dafoe and Colin Farrell in her category.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
17 June 2026
-
This was my villain origin story.—
Lauryn Overhultz,
FOXNews.com,
17 June 2026
Noun
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Shinnecock was still a brute of a test, but the red numbers on the white scoreboard were an unfamiliar site for this course.—
Doug Ferguson,
Los Angeles Times,
19 June 2026
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These brutes commonly exceed 50 pounds.—
Keith Sutton,
Outdoor Life,
18 June 2026
Noun
-
Then, one weekend about three years ago, Meledandri called with an idea — a Minion who sets out to make a monster movie.—
Elsa Keslassy,
Variety,
20 June 2026
-
The women’s Cloudmonster Shoe fittingly packs a monster-sized amount of cushioning.—
Jasmine Gomez,
Travel + Leisure,
20 June 2026
Noun
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Or a group of shipwrecked boys turning into savages and killing one another?—
Glenn Whipp,
Los Angeles Times,
8 June 2026
-
The Indians in Westerns had war paint and whooped like savages.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 May 2026
Noun
-
But there are lots of potential devils in the details (otherwise there’d be little need for experimental reactors).—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
9 June 2026
-
The two vivid soloists were tenor Anthony León as the cocky troubadour and baritone Eleomar Cuello as the cocky devil.—
Classical Music Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
9 June 2026
Noun
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This makes your accounts much harder to break into, even if a criminal gets control of your phone number.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
19 June 2026
-
And historically, denaturalization has been reserved for the most egregious offenders, such as human rights abusers and violent criminals.—
Camilo Montoya-Galvez,
CBS News,
18 June 2026
Noun
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The offender is described as an African-American man between 40-45 years of age, weighing 180-200 pounds, and was last seen wearing a gray/black baseball cap, a light blue shirt, gray pants, and black gym shoes.—
Jeramie Bizzle,
CBS News,
22 June 2026
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To better understand what drives a young person to commit these crimes, CNN spent months searching for prior offenders willing to speak about their experience.—
Hanako Montgomery,
CNN Money,
22 June 2026
Noun
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The beast screamed and flew away, pulling an attached anchor into the water.—
Bryan Alexander,
USA Today,
22 June 2026
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Think Stephen King meets Parks and Recreation, with a dash of Twin Peaks—except Widow’s Bay is very much its own refreshingly original beast.—
Jennifer Ouellette,
ArsTechnica,
21 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Wretch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wretch. Accessed 22 Jun. 2026.
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