A person who is very unhappy or in a very difficult situation.
Examples:
The poor wretch had lost everything in the fire.Even the villain was a wretch seeking redemption.Her heart went out to the lonely wretch on the street.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Retch
/retʃ/
To make the sound and motion of vomiting or to gag without necessarily expelling anything.
Examples:
The smell made him retch violently.I start to retch at the thought of eating that.She turned away, trying to suppress the retch.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Ways to tell them apart:
Wretch often refers to a miserable or unfortunate person, while retch is the action of gagging or making the sound of vomiting.
Think of wretch as referring to a person (W for Who), whereas retch is what you do (R for Reaction).
Wretch can be tied to emotions or state of being, while retch is a physical reaction.
When you feel empathy for someone, theyre a wretch; when you feel like throwing up, you retch'.
If it involves pity and sympathy, its wretch; if it involves nausea, its retch.