Scot-free

//ˌskɑtˈfɹi// adj, adv, slang

adj, adv, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Free of scot, free of tax. archaic
Adverb
  1. 1
    Without consequences or penalties, free without payment. colloquial, not-comparable

    "to get off scot-free"

Adverb
  1. 1
    free from harm or penalty wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
at largeat libertycleardetacheddisengagedeasygoing

Example

More examples

"He pleaded self-defense at the trial and went scot-free."

Etymology

From Middle English scotfre, from Old English scotfrēo (“scot-free; exempt from royal tax or imposts”), equivalent to scot (“payment; contribution; fine”) + -free.

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