Hypertext Webster Gateway: "wretch"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Wretch \Wretch\, n. [OE. wrecche, AS. wrecca, wr[ae]cca, an
exile, a wretch, fr. wrecan to drive out, punish; properly,
an exile, one driven out, akin to AS. wr[ae]c an exile, OS.
wrekkio a stranger, OHG. reccheo an exile. See {Wreak}, v.
t.]
1. A miserable person; one profoundly unhappy. ``The wretch
that lies in woe.'' --Shak.
Hovered thy spirit o'er thy sorrowing son, Wretch
even then, life's journey just begun? --Cowper.
2. One sunk in vice or degradation; a base, despicable
person; a vile knave; as, a profligate wretch.
Note: Wretch is sometimes used by way of slight or ironical
pity or contempt, and sometimes to express tenderness;
as we say, poor thing. ``Poor wretch was never frighted
so.'' --Drayton.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
wretch
n 1: performs some wicked deed
2: someone you feel sorry for [syn: {poor devil}]
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.