Scoundrel

//ˈskaʊ̯ndɹəl// noun

noun ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A mean, worthless fellow; a rascal; a villain; a person without honor or virtue.

    "Go! if your ancient but ignoble blood / Has crept thro' Scoundrels ever ſince the Flood."

  2. 2
    a wicked or evil person; someone who does evil deliberately wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
villainvillainreprobateadventureragitatorantimodel

Example

More examples

"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel."

Etymology

From earlier scondrel, scondrell, skoundrell, skowndrell, of unknown origin. Possibly related to northern English or Scottish scunner, skuner, scouner, scunder (“to shrink back in fear, disgust, or loathing”) (Encyclopædia Britannica 1911).

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