Scofflaw
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 One who habitually violates minor laws or fails to answer trivial court summonses (such as parking tickets). US
"The scofflaw entered the scoflsloon. He leaned an elbow on the scoffbar and rested a foot on the scoffrail. 'Waddle'y' have?" said the scoffbartender. "A little tea," said the scofflaw."
- 2 one who habitually ignores the law and does not answer court summonses wordnet
Example
More examples"The scofflaw entered the scoflsloon. He leaned an elbow on the scoffbar and rested a foot on the scoffrail. 'Waddle'y' have?" said the scoffbartender. "A little tea," said the scofflaw."
Etymology
From scoff + law. Coined simultaneously by Mr Henry Irving Dale and Miss Kate L. Butler for a contest held in Boston in 1923 in which a word for "a lawless drinker of illegally made or illegally obtained liquor" was sought during the Prohibition era.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.