scoundrel
/ˈskaʊndr(ə)l
/noun
A dishonest or unscrupulous person; a rogue: that scoundrel sets a bad example for the other young men...
- Blaming the masses for electing ‘rogues, scoundrels and even worse’ to power, it went on to express no confidence in any of the political parties.
- His book is populated with scoundrels, megalomaniacs, psychopaths, manipulators and sadists - people he happens to find interesting.
- How long must the majority of the Scottish people continue to elect such deceitful scoundrels and charlatans who masquerade as champions of the working class in our country?
Synonyms
rogue, rascal, good-for-nothing, reprobate, unprincipled person;
cheat, swindler, fraudster, trickster, charlatan
informal villain, bastard, beast, son of a bitch, s.o.b., rat, louse, swine, dog, hound, skunk, heel, snake, snake in the grass, wretch, scumbag, bad egg, stinker
British informal scrote
Irish informal sleeveen, spalpeen
North American informal rat fink
informal, dated rotter, bounder, blighter
vulgar slang shit, bugger
North American vulgar slang motherfucker, mother, mofo
dated cad, ne'er-do-well
archaic blackguard, miscreant, knave, dastard, vagabond, varlet, wastrel, rapscallion, whoreson
Derivatives
scoundreldom
scoundrelism
- The great cities reek with respectable as much as non-respectable robbery and scoundrelism.
- The author of one of the nation's early art histories commented that ‘New Yorkers make too much money to care whether their city is given over or not to scoundrelism.’
scoundrelly
- Look no further than the scoundrelly bookseller and publisher to Oscar Wilde who described himself as a dealer in ‘smut’.
Origin
Late 16th century: of unknown origin.
- well-hained
- well-haired
- well-hallowed
- well-hammered
- well-handed
- well-handled
- well-hardened
- well-harnessed
- well-havened
- well head
- well-headed
- well-hearted
- well-heated
- well heeled
- well-hewn
- well-hinged
- well-hoarded
- well hole
- well hook
- well-horned
- well-horsed
- well house
- well-housed
- well-hued
- well-humored