Miscreant

adj, noun

adj, noun ·3 syllables ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    One who has behaved badly, or illegally.

    "The teacher sent the miscreants to see the school principal."

  2. 2
    a person without moral scruples wordnet
  3. 3
    One not restrained by moral principles; an unscrupulous villain.

    "A meagre Catchpole hurries me to fail; No Miscreant, so remorseless, ever tore Thy Journals, Fog, or knock'd at Franklin's door"

  4. 4
    One who holds a false religious belief; a misbeliever.

    "Now wil the Chriſtian miſcreants be glad, Ringing with ioy their ſuperſtitious belles: And making bonfires for my ouerthrow. But ere I die thoſe foule Idolaters Shall make me bonfires with their filthy bones, […]"

Adjective
  1. 1
    Lacking in conscience or moral principles; unscrupulous.

    "How do we get fair treatment when confronting miscreant workers sometimes means no care at all?"

  2. 2
    Holding an incorrect religious belief.

Synonyms

All synonyms
reprobateagitatorbacksliderbad eggbad lotbase

Example

More examples

""To thee, yea, thee, fierce miscreant", he cried, / may Heaven, if Heaven with righteous eyes behold / so foul an outrage and a deed so bold, / ne'er fail a fitting guerdon to ordain, / nor worthy quittance for thy crime withhold, / whose hand hath made me see my darling slain, / and dared with filial blood a father's eyes profane.""

Etymology

From Middle English myscreaunt, miscreaunt, from Old French mescreant (1080) "mis-believer", present participle of mescreire "to misbelieve" (modern mécroire). Cognate with French mécréant.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.