as in villain
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person
he plays the role of the duplicitous knave who tries to foil the play's hero
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Recent Examples of knave
How does history distinguish knaves from legendary figures?
—
W.e. Gutman, Sun Sentinel, 8 July 2025
Human beings are motivated by virtue (knights) or rigid self-interest (knaves), or are passive victims of their circumstances (pawns).
—Sachin H. Jain, Forbes, 20 Dec. 2024
W.e. Gutman, Sun Sentinel, 8 July 2025
Human beings are motivated by virtue (knights) or rigid self-interest (knaves), or are passive victims of their circumstances (pawns).
—Sachin H. Jain, Forbes, 20 Dec. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for knave
Noun
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Neville includes a clip from a London play about The Beatles that bore the unwieldy title John, Paul, George, Ringo…and Bert, featured some very bad wigs and makeup and, in keeping with the official story, cast McCartney as the villain.—
Sheri Linden,
HollywoodReporter,
25 Feb. 2026
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Hollywood did end up telling that story, with Ben Foster portraying the actor as a villain in the 2015 movie The Program, which Armstrong was not a part of.—
Justin Kroll,
Deadline,
25 Feb. 2026
Noun
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For much of his career, Skarsgård has gravitated toward characters who weaponize physical presence — Vikings, tech titans and mythic brutes whose power is immediately legible.—
Clayton Davis,
Variety,
9 Jan. 2026
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As usual, Lang plays the brute’s Heart of Darkness–esque descent into madness with gleeful relish.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
19 Dec. 2025
Noun
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Other sufferers, however, who submitted entries to the 1983 Migraine Art Competition, depicted their pain in drawings and paintings of nails, needles, axes, ice picks, arrows, bolts, jaws, chisels, shivs, guns, red-hot spears, sledgehammers, devils, and long pins.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
24 Feb. 2026
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Think of devil’s food in Bundt form!—
Kaitlyn Yarborough,
Southern Living,
15 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The Longhorns took the lead on a monster 466-foot shot to left field by Aiden Robbins, who plunked his shot off the train stationed high above the left field wall at Daikin Park.—
David Eckert,
Austin American Statesman,
28 Feb. 2026
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Her feelings transformed her to become a monster, an inhuman creature.—
Destiny Jackson,
Deadline,
27 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Or Irish, in a time when they were seen as savages by the Englishmen?—
Arushi Jacob,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2026
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The Urus, a snarling, spitting savage dressed up in an orange tuxedo, will cause a commotion at the supermarket, gym and park.—
Josh Max,
Forbes.com,
16 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Political leaders who encourage or tolerate such scoundrels should be driven from office.—
Tom Nichols,
The Atlantic,
23 Feb. 2026
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Going back to the origins of everyone's favorite scoundrel, Han Solo, may have felt like a no-brainer — especially with Kasdan on board as co-writer — but the film never felt like an essential addition to the rapidly expanding canon.—
Richard Edwards,
Space.com,
17 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Knave.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/knave. Accessed 4 Mar. 2026.
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