miscreant

1 of 2

adjective

mis·​cre·​ant ˈmis-krē-ənt 

1

: unbelieving, heretical

miscreant pagans

2

: depraved, villainous

miscreant behavior

miscreant gangs

miscreant

2 of 2

noun

1

: infidel, heretic

2

: one who behaves criminally or viciously

Synonyms

Noun

• villain
• brute
• offender
• criminal
• monster
• savage
• devil

Examples of miscreant in a Sentence

Noun

He supports tough penalties against corporate miscreants.

halt, vile miscreant, and face justice!

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Voters need to hold the mayor and council accountable for their miscreant spending, not give them more of our limited funds. —U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 May 2025

You have been identified and are now in our National Database of miscreant Harris supporters, either by social interactions with your neighbors who are on our investigations team, or by yard signs, or vehicle bumper stickers. —Samuel Burke, Fortune, 29 Oct. 2024

Noun

To force him to hand it over, all the movie’s miscreants—headed by a pair of ultra-Orthodox Jewish brothers, Lipa (Liev Schreiber) and Shmully (Vincent D’Onofrio)—subject Hank to relentless rounds of physical and emotional torture. —Richard Brody, New Yorker, 28 Aug. 2025

Even miscreants like Steve Albini had purist creeds of conduct. —Chris R. Morgan, The Washington Examiner, 22 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Adjective and Noun

Middle English miscreaunt, from Anglo-French mescreant, present participle of mescreire to disbelieve, from mes- + creire to believe, from Latin credere — more at creed

First Known Use

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

miscreant

noun

mis·​cre·​ant

ˈmis-krē-ənt

: villain sense 2, scoundrel

miscreant adjective