wretch
n.n. a person who is very unhappy or suffers a lot. It is an old-fashioned word that people rarely use today.
n. a person who is unfortunate, miserable, or suffering. Often used in literary or poetic contexts to evoke a sense of deep distress or social degradation.
The poor wretch sat alone in the cold.
The old man looked at the starving wretch with a mix of pity and anger.
In the bleak landscape of the novel, the protagonist is portrayed as a wretch, stripped of his former status and left to wander the desolate streets.
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”). Doublet of garçon.
From confusion with the noun.