Wretch

Definition: Wretch

Wretch

Noun

1. Performs some wicked deed.

2. Someone you feel sorry for.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "wretch" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references)

Etymology: Wretch \Wretch\, noun. [from Old English expression wrecche, Anglo-Saxon wrecca, wr[ae]cca, an exile, wretch, from wrecan to drive out, punish; properly, an exile, one driven out, akin to Anglo-Saxon wr[ae]c an exile, Old Saxon wrekkio stranger, Old High German. reccheo an exile. See Wreak, transitive verb]. (references)

Synonym: Wretch

Bad Man

Villain, rascal, scoundrel, miscreant, budmash, caitiff; wretch, reptile, viper, serpent, basilisk, urchin; tiger, monster; devil; (demon); devil incarnate; demon in human shape, Nana Sahib; hellhound, hellcat; rakehell.

Blackguard, polisson, loafer, sneak; rapscallion, rascallion; cullion, mean wretch, varlet, kern, ame-de-boue, drole; cur, dog, hound, whelp, mongrel; lown, loon, runnion, outcast, vagabond; rogue; (knave); ronian; scum of the earth, riffraff; Arcades ambo.

Pain

Sufferer, victim, prey, martyr, object of compassion, wretch, shorn lamb.

Crosswords: Wretch

Railroad Wretch (1932)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• "Guilty wretch that I am" : echoes of Australian bushrangers (reference)

• That Saved a Wretch Like Me (reference)

• The Excellent Wretch (reference)

  (more book examples)

Music

• Wretch (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Think of some other man, the same age as this poor wretch.

He was a wretch, a kind of mendicant musician, a lazy ragamuffin, who beat her, and who left her, as she had taken him, with disgust

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

A wretch

Expressions using "wretch": monkey wretch ♦ perjured wretch ♦ poor wretch ♦ thankless wretch ♦ unlucky wretch. Additional references.

Albanian

zavall, qerrata (mischievous, scallywag, scamp, scapegrace, son of a gun, varmint). (various references)

Arabic 

‏صعلوك (ragamuffin, vile), ‏الحقير (blackguard, rat, villain), ‏التعيس (miserable, unfortunate), ‏الخسيس (cur, skinflint), ‏البائس. (various references)

Bulgarian 

клетник, отрепка (doormat, jetsam, rag, scum, sewer rat, yellow dog), окаян човек (reprobate), нещастник (bastard, unfortunate), негодник (dog, good for nothing, knave, no good, rotter, scapegrace, scaramouch, sorry fellow, villain), мошеник (blackguard, cheat, crook, dead beat, deadbeat, dodger, grafter, gyp, hustler, jongleur, knave, palmer, picaroon, rogue, scoundrel, sham, shark, sharp, skin, trickster, varlet), подлец (bastard, blackguard, caitiff, creep, dastard, hangdog, ratface, recreant, reprobate, scoundrel, skunk, sneak, sneaker, snot, twerp, villain, yellow dog). (various references)

Chinese 

不幸的人. (various references)

Czech

ubožák (worm), lump (bad lot, blackguard, heel, knave, louse, rascal, skunk, villain), chudák (poor beggar, poor chap, poor devil, the poor bastard). (various references)

Farsi 

پست (Abacinate, Abject, Cheap, Common, Currish, Despicable, Earthborn, Humble, Infamous, Inferior, Lily, Little, Mail, Menial, Peevish, Poor, Runty, Ungenerous, Venal, Vile, Villain, Villainous, Vulgar, Wretched), خوار (Abject, Despicable, Lowly), بیچاره (Desperate, Destitute, Incurable, Wretched), بی وجدان (Unconscionable), بدبخت (Gray, Infelicitous, Miserable, Sorry, Unblessed, Unblest, Unfortunate, Unhappy, Woeful, Wretched). (various references)

French

scélérat, salaud, polisson, pauvre (wretched), misérable (wretched), malheureux (wretched), gueux, déchet, cabot. (various references)

German

wicht (Goblin, little creature, runt, scoundrel, Wight), schuft (blackguard, cad, cheat, crook, cur, heel, meanie, rascal, rogue, scamp, scoundrel, villain), schlingel (rascal, rogue), kreatur (creation, creature, minion), Kerl (beggar, blighter, bloke, chap, character, cove, fellow, guy, operator, twerp), gör (brat, girl, kid), blödmann (buffoon, faggot, loon, muggins, nit, stupid fool), biest (beast, bitch, bug, creature, minx), armes Wesen, armer teufel. (various references)

Greek 

κακόμοιρος (hapless, miserable), φουκαράσ (poor man). (various references)

Hebrew 

מפתח א� �'לי (monkey wretch). (various references)

Hungarian

szerencsétlen alak, szegény ördög (a poor blighter, poor blighter, poor devil, poor stick), nyomorult (abject, bally, blankety-blank, bum, damned, godforsaken, jay, miserable, pimping, slave, wretched). (various references)

Italian

sciagurato (unlucky, wicked, wretched), miserabile (abject, despicable, dismal, meager, mean, measly, miserable, misery, poor, poverty stricken, sorry, unhappiness, wretched, wretchedness), disgraziato (hapless, miserable, sorrowful, unfortunate, unhappy, unlucky, woeful, woesome, wretched). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

卑称 (this wretch, you wretch). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

ひしょう (flight, flying, grief, petty, soaring, spending, this wretch, trifling, you wretch). (various references)

Manx

kercheen (base person, cringe of person; underling, cringe; underling, cullion, cur, cur person, down-and-out, henchman, rotter, servile person, vagabond), dreih (drudge, miserable creature, pitiful person), donnan (dolt, dunce, stupid person). (various references)

Pig Latin

etchwray.(various references)

Portuguese

patife (caitiff, cheat, crook, heavy, knave, mean-spirited, miscreant, ne'er-do-well, rascal, rascally, reprobate, rogue, rotter, scamp, scapegrace, scoundrel, scoundrelly, spalpeen, vagabond, villain), miserável (abject, costive, dismal, evil, godforsaken, logy, meager, misbegotten, miscreant, miserable, miserly, paltry, picayune, pimping, poky, poor, rascally, scaly, scoundrel, scurvy, skinflint, sordid, squalid, wretched), infeliz (devoted, disastrous, evil, hapless, ill-fated, ill-omened, ill-starred, inauspicious, infelicitous, jonah, luckless, sorrowful, unblessed, unfortunate, unhappy, unluckily, unlucky, unsuccessful, wretched), desgraçado (abject, miserable, poor, unblessed, unfortunate, unlucky, woeful, woesome, wretched). (various references)

Romanian

ticãlos (a bad egg, base, cad, canting, cur, dark, dirty, felon, foul, heel, hound, impious, kite, knave, knavish, knavishly, low-minded, mean, meanly, miscreant, paltry, perverse, picaroon, rapscallion, rascal, rascally, recreant, reprobate, ruffian, scab, scabby, scamp, scoundrel, scurvy, serpentine, shabby, skunk, sneak, sneaking, vile, villain, villainous, wretched), scelerat (scoundrel, vile, villain, villainous, wicked), prãpãdit (destroyed, deteriorated, gaunt, rascal, wretched), netrebnic (a dirty dog, good for nothing, knave, knavish, picaroon, rascal, reprobate, scab, sneak, useless, vile, villain, worthless), nenorocit (abject, baleful, disastrous, forlorn, grievous, grub, hapless, lame duck, mean, measly, miser, miserable, pilgarlic, rascal, rotten, sad, scullion, unfortunate, unhappy, wretched), nemernic (base, cad, caitiff, felon, foul, rascal, rascally, reprobate, scamp, scoundrel, sneak, sneaking, son of a gun, villain, wretched), nefericit (ill fated, infelicitous, miserable, unfortunate, unhappy, unlucky, wretched), mizerabil (abject, despicable, dirty, godforsaken, grovelling, miserable, miserably, pitiable, unlucky, villainous, wretched), golan (cad, good for nothing, hooligan, ragamuffin, ragged, rascal, ruffian, tramp, urchin, vagabond), ciuruc (rubbish, scamp), amãrât (downcast, down-hearted, embittered, long-faced, mumper, poor man, sadly, sorry, unhappy). (various references)

Russian 

несчастный (desolate, disconsolate, hapless, hard, infelicitous, lack-all, lorn, miserable, pitiable, poor, sorry, star-crossed, unblessed, unfortunate, unhappy, woeful, wretched), негодяй (brat, coyote, dastard, gallows bird, gallows-bird, hound, knave, loon, man of Belial, miscreant, rascal, reprobate, ruffian, scamp, scapegrace, scoundrel, spalpeen, villain). (various references)

Scottish

siachair (a pithless wretch). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

paćenik, jadnik, bednik. (various references)

Spanish

infeliz (infelicitous, unfortunate, unhappy, unlucky, unsuccessful, wretched), desgraciado (clumsy, loser, miserable, poor, sad sack, schlemiel, skate, unfortunate, unhandily, unhappy, unlucky, unskillful). (various references)

Swedish

usling (beast, cur, dog, hound, villain), stackare (coward, pilgarlic, weed, worm), kräk (beast, goof, moron, mug, rotter, skunk, worm). (various references)

Turkish

zavallı adam (poor wretch), sefil (abject, beggarly, dead end, destitute, down and out, down at heels, hangdog, miserable, poor, poverty stricken, rep, ropy, shabby, sordid, squalid, starveling, wretched), aynasız (bluebottle, Bobby, bull, cop, copper, flatfoot, flattie, fuzz, peeler, pig, rozzer, shamus, the heat), alçak herif (bugger, dastard, rascal, scoundrel, skunk, spalpeen, swab), adamcağız (poor fellow, poor wretch). (various references)

Turkmen 

pahyr, юermende. (various references)

Ukrainian

гультяй (dangler, good for nothing, ne'er do well, rambler, skulk, wassailer), нещасна людина, негідник (blackguard, cad, caitiff, cullion, gallows, miscreant, niddering, pimp, rascal, reprobate, scoundrel, skunk, thief, varlet), малятко. (various references)

Vietnamese 

người khổ sở, người cùng khổ, người bất hạnh kẻ hèn hạ, kẻ đê tiện, con bé (jade, puss). (various references)

Welsh

truanes, truan (miserable, poor, wretched), anwr (coward), adyn (scoundrel). (various references)

Derivations

Words beginning with "wretch": wretched, wretcheder, wretchedest, wretchedly, wretchedness, wretchednesses, wretches. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Wretch" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Artech, Bretch, fratch, gratch, gretschy, kretch, Pretsch, tretch, vretch, Weeitch, werth, wetch, wreetch, wretchy, wreth, wrocht. (additional references)

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-1 letter: chert, crwth, retch, threw, wecht.

-2 letters: chew, crew, etch, thew, wert, whet.

-3 letters: eth, her, het, hew, rec, ret, tew, the, wet.

-4 letters: eh, er, et, he, re, we.

+1 letter: watcher.

+2 letters: switcher, thwacker, twitcher, watchers, witchery, witchier, wretched, wretches.

+3 letters: cartwheel, dowitcher, switchers, thwackers, twitchers, twitchier.

+4 letters: bewitchery, cartwheels, cowcatcher, dowitchers, switcheroo, thumbscrew, watchcries, watchmaker, watchtower, witcheries, wretcheder, wretchedly.

+5 letters: birdwatcher, blowtorches, cartwheeled, cartwheeler, cowcatchers, kitchenware, switcheroos, thumbscrews, watchmakers, watchtowers, weathercast, weathercock, weltschmerz, wretchedest.