: completely free from obligation, harm, or penalty

Examples of scot-free in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web If a lawyer is hired to defend a company that just poisoned thousands of innocent people, the lawyer’s job is, if possible, to get that company off scot-free. Ian Millhiser, Vox, 25 Sep. 2024 Rapper Killer Mike is moving past his arrest at the Grammy Awards earlier this year seemingly scot-free and fired up. Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 2024 Taylor Swift’s dad has got off scot-free after allegedly assaulting an Australian paparazzo during the superstar’s tour in Sydney last month. Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 14 June 2024 The atmosphere is noirish enough to convince me Swift really could murder a man and get away scot-free. Nate Jones, Vulture, 20 May 2024 But their plan to collect a ransom from Franks’ family and get away scot-free went awry. Liam Quinn, Peoplemag, 21 May 2024 Unlike Jerry, Larry — the guy who wrote Jerry’s ending and who people want to see apologize — gets to walk out of jail scot-free. Lili Loofbourow, Washington Post, 8 Apr. 2024 The anecdote was based on a real event by Balboa Park, and the man who’d witnessed it was infuriated that the reckless driver appeared to escape scot-free while those without homes could be arrested for sleeping in tents. Blake Nelson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Feb. 2024 The former president broke the judge’s rules but walked away scot-free. Peter Charalambous, ABC News, 12 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'scot-free.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

scot

First Known Use

1528, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of scot-free was in 1528

Dictionary Entries Near scot-free

Cite this Entry

“Scot-free.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scot-free. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

scot-free

adjective
ˈskät-ˈfrē
: completely free from duty, harm, or penalty
get off scot-free
Etymology

from earlier scot "money owed"

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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