as in mischievous
tending to or exhibiting reckless playfulness
a knavish bunch of urchins racing pell-mell through the marketplace
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of knavish
Wells could be playful, knavish, and his tone here is one of urgency and optimism about the distribution of information.
—
BostonGlobe.com, 30 July 2021
The same people who are now telling us that only Republican-voting obscurantists, ignorant deplorables and knavish right-wing media pundits are raising doubts about the vaccine would have been oozing skepticism.
—Gerard Baker, WSJ, 12 July 2021
BostonGlobe.com, 30 July 2021
The same people who are now telling us that only Republican-voting obscurantists, ignorant deplorables and knavish right-wing media pundits are raising doubts about the vaccine would have been oozing skepticism.
—Gerard Baker, WSJ, 12 July 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for knavish
Adjective
-
Former keepers who visited on May 13 said the 2-year-old has bonded with surrogate mother Fredrika and developed a playful, mischievous personality.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
8 June 2026
-
His mustache is graying, but his eyes remain mischievous.—
Charles Bethea,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
Adjective
-
Jones puts an exclamation point on the music — making the audience the roadies to Lestat’s wicked showman ways.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
3 June 2026
-
Every day brought a thousand little dramas, dropped lines and brilliant recoveries, missing props and onstage farts, the extramarital affair that Proteus and Julia had commenced, the gay actor’s wicked commentary on it, followed by bad behavior in bars.—
Jonathan Franzen,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
Adjective
-
Former keepers who visited on May 13 said the 2-year-old has bonded with surrogate mother Fredrika and developed a playful, mischievous personality.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
8 June 2026
-
Travis came up with the playful name, which was inspired by the city's cold winters.—
Jori Parys,
CBS News,
8 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Knavish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/knavish. Accessed 10 Jun. 2026.
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