wretch

Wretch is a common noun in English for a person who is miserable or pitiful, often also for someone of morally despicable character. It can express pity, as in “poor wretch,” or function as a mild insult toward someone deemed unworthy. In contemporary usage, wretch is more common in literary, rhetorical, or historical contexts and may convey a tone of pathos, moral judgment, or irony. The term is rarely used in neutral, everyday description.

Etymology: The word derives from Old English wræcca or wrecca, terms referring to an exile or outcast, possibly a torturer or one who suffers punishment. The form passed into Middle English as wretc then wrech, leading to the modern form. The precise sense shift is not completely settled, but it is generally linked to suffering or misfortune, and to derision of a person deemed miserable or blameworthy.

Usage notes: The phrase “poor wretch” is idiomatic in many varieties of English, often used affectionately or sympathetically in fiction and storytelling. The term can carry an archaic or emphatic flavor; in polite modern prose, it may seem old-fashioned.

Derivatives: wretched (adjective), wretchedness (noun), wretchlike (adjective, archaic).

See also: wretched, miscreant, outcast, sufferer.

Pronunciation: /rɛtʃ/