rogue

noun

\ ˈrōg

Definition of rogue

(Entry 1 of 4)

1 : vagrant, tramp

2 : a dishonest or worthless person : scoundrel

3 : a mischievous person : scamp

4 : a horse inclined to shirk or misbehave

5 : an individual exhibiting a chance and usually inferior biological variation

rogue

verb

rogued; roguing or rogueing

Definition of rogue (Entry 2 of 4)

intransitive verb

: to weed out inferior, diseased, or nontypical individuals from a crop plant or a field

rogue

adjective

Definition of rogue (Entry 3 of 4)

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

Rogue

geographical name

\ ˈrōg

Definition of Rogue (Entry 4 of 4)

river about 200 miles (320 kilometers) long in southwestern Oregon rising in Crater Lake National Park and flowing west and southwest into the Pacific Ocean

Other Words from rogue Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about rogue

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Examples of rogue in a Sentence

Noun

Many of the vagabonds were rogues and cheaters of various kinds, and formed a subcommunity on the fringes of official society. — Charles Barber, Early Modern English, 1976 Cartier decided that the two boys were a choice pair of rogues who would probably try to run him aground if taken as pilots, and that he would dispense with their services. — Samuel Eliot Morison, The European Discovery of America, 1971 His account of their discoveries in the low life of a seaport town would have made a charming book, and in the various characters that came their way the student might easily have found matter for a very complete dictionary of rogues. — W. Somerset Maugham, Moon and Sixpence, 1919 He's a lovable old rogue. a rogue who had nothing but contempt for people who made their living honestly

Adjective

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 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 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 a rogue administrator who took bribes to falsify paperwork

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Growing up in Montreal in the 1970s, he was especially taken with science fiction books like Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?—in which sentient robots created by a megacorporation have gone rogue. — Vauhini Vara, Fortune, "Can This Startup Break Big Tech’s Hold on A.I.?," 25 June 2018 In December 2014, as The Sunday Times kept churning out headlines about the rogue unit, Mr. Moyane commissioned KPMG South Africa to investigate. — New York Times, "Corruption Gutted South Africa’s Tax Agency. Now the Nation Is Paying the Price.," 10 June 2018 The rogue painters were attempting to save the spots for New Orleans’s extravagant Krewe of Endymion parade, set for Saturday. — Jennifer Levitz, WSJ, "What’s Crazier Than Mardi Gras? Securing a Spot to Watch the New Orleans Parade," 1 Mar. 2019 Bonus: at least one love scene involving a rogue leek! — Bethany Jean Clement, The Seattle Times, "In honor of the Oscars, we asked Seattle chefs to name their picks for all-time Best Food Film," 20 Feb. 2019 After his first overnight stay in North Korea’s capital, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo entered a second day of talks on Saturday seeking to agree to details on the dismantlement of the rogue state’s nuclear program. — John Hudson, Washington Post, "North Korean negotiator teases and flatters as Pompeo enters second day of talks," 7 July 2018 Investors, still whipsawed from the financial crisis and the rogue-trading scandals that followed, assign higher value to these revenues. — Liz Hoffman, WSJ, "Corporate HR Department Is Wall Street’s Next Battleground," 12 Feb. 2019 To do that, the researchers built their own wave machine and took pictures of the resulting rogue wave. — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, "Scientists Made a Wave in a Lab That Looks Almost Exactly Like a Famous Artwork," 25 Jan. 2019 Going rogue The Division had one standout idea: The Dark Zone, where players were encouraged to team up to score high-level loot while most of the server tried to gun them down. — Hayden Dingman, PCWorld, "This week in games: Call of Duty's battle royale is free-to-try, Steam moved 15 exabytes of data in 2018," 18 Jan. 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

But a conservative Court of Appeals panel could rogue and decide to disobey Roe and Casey. — Dylan Matthews, Vox, "America under Brett Kavanaugh," 11 July 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

Miller hopes that Batista's prompt actions will be a catalyst for national change, as the public demands rogue officers be held accountable and an end to police brutality. — Nathan J. Fish, azcentral, "Pastor Andre Miller to hold Sunday sermon on police brutality after," 9 June 2018 Chicago is currently in the middle of a vicious cold spell caused by rogue Arctic winds. — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, "It's So Cold in Chicago That the Rail Company Is Lighting Its Tracks on Fire," 30 Jan. 2019 Black would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids and school children could not be thought about evolution. — Fox News, "Reps. Meadows, Jordan call on Rosenstein to testify," 27 Sep. 2018 Prosecutors in counties across the country maintain a database of rogue police officers who have come under scrutiny for dishonesty and other misdeeds. — The Kansas City Star Editorial Board, kansascity, "A database could help track problem police officers. Why don't KC-area prosecutors have one?," 14 June 2018 Aiming for one can lead to a whole group, resulting in a bald spot that's much harder to cover up than a few rogue hairs. — Sarah Ferguson, Marie Claire, "You've Spotted Your First Gray Hair: A Game Plan," 9 Nov. 2018 Mattis articulated his concept early this year in a new national defense strategy that defined great-power competition with Russia and China as the military’s top priority – and minimized the focus on counterterrorism and threats from rogue nations. — Dan Lamothe, The Seattle Times, "Mattis’ goals teeter as he works to temper Trump," 15 Oct. 2018 Pompeo is at the Koryo Hotel in the rogue nation's capital for meetings, Fox News has learned. — Adam Shaw, Fox News, "Pompeo arrives in North Korea to prepare for meeting with Kim Jong Un," 2 Oct. 2018 The base of a space elevator would be a tempting target for terrorists and rogue nations and would need to be heavily defended. — Colin Stuart, WSJ, "Will Elevators to Outer Space Ever Get Off the Ground?," 20 Sep. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'rogue.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.