rogue

³rogue

adj \ˈrōg\

Definition of ROGUE

1

: resembling or suggesting a rogue elephant especially in being isolated, aberrant, dangerous, or uncontrollable <capsized by a rogue wave>

2

: corrupt, dishonest <rogue cops>

3

: of or being a nation whose leaders defy international law or norms of international behavior <rogue states>

Examples of ROGUE

1. <a rogue administrator who took bribes to falsify paperwork>
2. Americans assume that our country was built by rogue males but there's more to the breed than wanderlust and rugged individualism. —Florence King, National Review, 27 Aug. 2007
3. Perhaps more important, defense planners worried for the past year about the instability of the Soviet Union and the nightmare that a rogue Soviet submarine skipper might decide on his own to launch close to 200 warheads at U.S. targets. —John Barry, Newsweek, 3 June 1991
4. In “The In-Laws,” Alan Arkin is a dentist led astray by a rogue C.I.A. operative … , whose son his daughter is marrying, and he winds up dodging bullets on a Caribbean island. —Terrence Rafferty, New Yorker, 30 July 1990

Origin of ROGUE

(see ¹rogue)

First Known Use: 1872

Related to ROGUE

Synonyms: bent [chiefly British], crooked, deceptive, double-dealing, duplicitous, fast, fraudulent, guileful, dishonest, shady, sharp, shifty, underhand, underhanded

Antonyms: aboveboard, honest, straight

Related Words: unconscionable, unethical, unprincipled, unscrupulous; deceitful, deceiving, deluding, delusive, delusory, false; artful, beguiling, cagey (also cagy), crafty, cunning, foxy, slick, sly, subtle, wily; defrauding, devious, furtive, slippery, sneaking, sneaky, trickish, tricky; insidious, perfidious, treacherous

Near Antonyms: conscientious, decent, ethical, honorable, just, scrupulous, upright; forthright, straightforward

[+]more[-]hide

Other Animal Husbandry Terms

apiary, bantam, calico, girth, hogwash, mast, rut