scoundrel
English
Etymology
Possibly related to northern English or Scottish scunner (“to shrink back in fear or loathing”) (Encyclopædia Britannica 1911).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈskaʊ̯ndɹəl/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
Noun
scoundrel (plural scoundrels)
- A mean, worthless fellow; a rascal; a villain; a person without honour or virtue.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:villain
- 1734, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], epistle IV, London: Printed for J[ohn] Wilford, […], OCLC 960856019, lines 201–202, page 14:
- Go! if your ancient but ignoble blood / Has crept thro' Scoundrels ever ſince the Flood.
Derived terms
- scoundrelish, scoundrelly, scoundrelous, scoundrelously
Translations
villain
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a person without honour or virtue
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Further reading
- “scoundrel”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Scoundrel in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)