What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Wretch vs Wreck - What's the difference?

wretch | wreck |

As nouns the difference between wretch and wreck

is that wretch is an unhappy, unfortunate, or miserable person while wreck is something or someone that has been ruined.

As a verb wreck is

to destroy violently; to cause severe damage to something, to a point where it no longer works, or is useless.

wretch

English

Noun

(es)
  • An unhappy, unfortunate, or miserable person.
  • *{{quote-book
    • , year=1742 , author=Henry Fielding , title=Joseph Andrews , chapter=12 citation , passage=The poor wretch , who lay motionless a long time, just began to recover his senses as a stage-coach came by.}}
  • *{{quote-book
    • , year=1789 , author=Watkin Tench , title=The Expedition to Botany Bay , chapter=14 citation , passage=The four unhappy wretches labouring under sentence of banishment were freed from their fetters, to rejoin their former society; and three days given as holidays to every convict in the colony.}}
  • An unpleasant, annoying person.
  • *{{quote-book
    • , year=1740 , author=Samuel Richardson , title=Pamela , chapter=71 citation , passage=Swear to me but, thou bold wretch ! said she, swear to me, that Pamela Andrews is really and truly thy lawful wife, without sham, without deceit, without double-meaning; and I know what I have to say!}}
  • *{{quote-book
    • , year=1823 , author=Walter Scott , title=Saint Ronan's Well , chapter=32 citation , passage=I asked that selfish wretch , Winterblossom, to walk down with me to view her distress, and the heartless beast told me he was afraid of infection!}}
  • (archaic) An exile. (rfex)

    • External links

    * * *

    wreck

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Something or someone that has been ruined.
    • He was an emotional wreck after the death of his wife.
  • The remains of something that has been severely damaged or worn down.
  • * Cowper
    • To the fair haven of my native home, / The wreck of what I was, fatigued I come.
  • An event in which something is damaged through collision.
  • * Addison
    • the wreck of matter and the crush of worlds
  • * Spenser
    • Hard and obstinate / As is a rock amidst the raging floods, / 'Gainst which a ship, of succour desolate, / Doth suffer wreck , both of herself and goods.
  • * J. R. Green
    • Its intellectual life was thus able to go on amidst the wreck of its political life.
  • (legal) Goods, etc. cast ashore by the sea after a shipwreck.
    • (Bouvier)

    Synonyms

    * crash * ruins

    Derived terms

    * shipwreck

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To destroy violently; to cause severe damage to something, to a point where it no longer works, or is useless.
    • He wrecked the car in a collision.
    That adulterous hussy wrecked my marriage!
  • * Shakespeare
    • Supposing that they saw the king's ship wrecked .
  • To ruin or dilapidate.
  • (Australia) To dismantle wrecked vehicles or other objects, to reclaim any useful parts.
  • To involve in a wreck; hence, to cause to suffer ruin; to balk of success, and bring disaster on.
  • * Daniel
    • Weak and envied, if they should conspire, / They wreck themselves.

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Antonyms

    * build * construct * make * produce

    Derived terms

    * bewreck * wrecker * wreckage

    References