Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A villain; a rogue.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A base, mean, worthless fellow; a rascal; a low villain; a man without honor or virtue.
- noun Synonyms Knave, rogue, cheat, swindler, sharper.
- Belonging to or characteristic of a scoundrel; base; mean; unprincipled.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Low; base; mean; unprincipled.
- noun A mean, worthless fellow; a rascal; a villain; a man without honor or virtue.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun one without
honor ; avillain
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a wicked or evil person; someone who does evil deliberately
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Berthiers intrigue for him: -- old Foulon, who has now nothing to do but intrigue; who is known and even seen to be what they call a scoundrel; but of unmeasured wealth; who, from Commissariat-clerk which he once was, may hope, some think, if the game go right, to be Minister himself one day.
The French Revolution Thomas Carlyle 1838
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Thomas Jefferson said the first act of a scoundrel is to wrap himself in the flag.
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Certainly this scoundrel is not the first to think M.
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Whether I'm zealot or scoundrel is beside the point.
Behe Responds 2007
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The last refuge of a scoundrel is to change discussion to absolutes that have never stated by anyone to make a point.
Protesters Demand UVa Contractors Living Wage at cvillenews.com 2002
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I haven't a thought that didn't come from my father; not a passion that didn't come from my mother; and now this last -- this about all human creatures being equal -- I got that from him, my fiancé -- whom I call a scoundrel for that reason!
Plays by August Strindberg, Second series August Strindberg 1880
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But M. Fortunat, in whose heart the word scoundrel was still rankling, stopped him.
The Count's Millions ��mile Gaboriau 1852
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"If you apply the word scoundrel to Captain O'Brien, sir, in his name I contradict it."
Peter Simple Frederick Marryat 1820
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Using the Smuggler as an example, you could choose to configure the cowboy opportunist as a "scoundrel" - a short-range stealth rogue, skilled in medicine - or a
Eurogamer 2009
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If this scoundrel was a Republican the article would have written in BOLD letters GOP Senator from Montana.
hernesheir commented on the word scoundrel
"What contemptible scoundrel stole the cork from my lunch?" -- W.C. Fields
September 22, 2009