wretch
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English wrecche, from Old English wreċċa (“exile, outcast”), from Proto-Germanic *wrakjô (“exile, fugitive, warrior”), from Proto-Indo-European *wreg- (“to track, follow”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɹɛtʃ/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛtʃ
- Homophone: retch
Noun
wretch (plural wretches)
- An unhappy, unfortunate, or miserable person.
- 1742, Henry Fielding, chapter 12, in Joseph Andrews:
- The poor wretch, who lay motionless a long time, just began to recover his senses as a stage-coach came by.
- 1789, Watkin Tench, chapter 14, in The Expedition to Botany Bay:
- The four unhappy wretches labouring under sentence of banishment were freed from their fetters, to rejoin their former society; and three days given as holidays to every convict in the colony.
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- An unpleasant, annoying person.
- 1740, Samuel Richardson, chapter 71, in Pamela:
- Swear to me but, thou bold wretch! said she, swear to me, that Pamela Andrews is really and truly thy lawful wife, without sham, without deceit, without double-meaning; and I know what I have to say!
- 1823, Walter Scott, chapter 32, in Saint Ronan's Well:
- I asked that selfish wretch, Winterblossom, to walk down with me to view her distress, and the heartless beast told me he was afraid of infection!
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- (archaic) An exile. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
Translations
unhappy, unfortunate, or miserable person
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unpleasant, annoying person
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exile — see exile
Verb
wretch (third-person singular simple present wretches, present participle wretching, simple past and past participle wretched)
- Misspelling of retch.
See also
- wretched
Further reading
- wretch in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- wretch in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- wretch at OneLook Dictionary Search
- “wretch” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2019.