From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishwretchwretch /retʃ/ noun [countable] 1 SYMPATHIZEsomeone that you feel sorry for He was a lonely, miserable wretch.2 ANNOYsomeone you are annoyed with Stop pulling my hair, you wretch!
Examples from the Corpus
wretch• That miserable little wretch would lie to anyone.• Besides, Mr. Williams, who would waste themselves on such a miserable wretch?• He was a lonely, miserable wretch.• The sermon he found surprisingly proper, but Adams was repelled to see poor wretches fingering their prayer beads.• Then as now, judges felt more at ease burning some poor wretch if they had a confession in hand.• What would happen to this poor wretch when we let her go?• I marvel who these wretches could be, moving in such numbers, and so heavily armed.• Ten thousand wretches wanted to be Byron and ended as wretches, still wanting.• Unhappy wretch that I am, I left my native fireside and alienated my home to seek strange truths in undiscovered lands.Origin wretch Old English wrecca “person driven out” 