See the Dictionary Definition 
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lowlifes
Noun
-
New Orleans has long been notorious for embracing such scoundrels, a reputation that isn’t exactly helped by the fact that, for many years, disgraced attorneys who lost their licenses in Louisiana and applied for readmission to the bar often got it.—
Patrick Radden Keefe,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026 -
Political leaders who encourage or tolerate such scoundrels should be driven from office.—
Tom Nichols,
The Atlantic,
23 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The first time, Julian’s children (James Corden, Jessica Gunning) seemed like miserable, greedy wretches.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
11 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
There are flying cars held at bay by the power of telekenesis and Park teleporting, as the crew clumsily accept their new ‘hero’ roles and attempt to take on the villains threatening the peace of Haeseong City.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
22 Apr. 2026
-
The playoffs have delivered their share of Knicks villains over the years, from Reggie Miller to Joel Embiid to Tyrese Haliburton.—
Peter Sblendorio,
New York Daily News,
21 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
But this is a look at the more dynamic version, like the roughnecks out in the patch and the offices in Dallas and Fort Worth.—
Jackie Strause,
HollywoodReporter,
17 Nov. 2025
-
Local agency Legacy Casting is putting out a call for real-life oil and gas workers, or roughnecks, to appear in the show.—
Brayden Garcia,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
The first of these—a cult favorite among writers, particularly youngish women writers—put Lemann on the map as a singular stylist, capable of crystalline insights into the miscreants and oddballs of the American South and great bursts of unrestrained sentiment.—
Brandy Jensen,
New Yorker,
8 Apr. 2026
-
Yup, those $70,000-a-year-plus-benefits folks the city of San Diego has hired to creep around in the early-morning hours before the garbage trucks come and look for miscreants who have put plastic bags in the blue recycling bins or greenery in the black-now-gray trash bins.—
Inga,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
23 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
But the word thug as a term for rogues and thieves lived on in English.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
31 Mar. 2026
-
Streetwise rogues in the mould of an enigmatic leader… there are certainly parallels between Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid and Tommy Shelby’s Peaky Blinders.—
Guillermo Rai,
New York Times,
9 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Of all the former rascals, Symoné has enjoyed the longest and most successful career in entertainment.—
Andrew Walsh,
Entertainment Weekly,
30 Jan. 2026
-
In the years since 2004’s Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, Penn’s carved out a niche embodying big-talking, attention-grabbing rascals who say inappropriate things, then shrug their way through the consequences.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
12 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The history of The Little Rascals dates back to the 1920s, when a series of short films called our Our Gang introduced audiences to lovable scamps like Spanky, Alfalfa, Buckwheat, and Porky.—
Andrew Walsh,
Entertainment Weekly,
30 Jan. 2026
-
McKelway, who wrote for the magazine from the nineteen-thirties to the sixties, specialized in true-crime stories, bringing to life a gallery of scamps and swindlers and impostors.—
David Grann,
New Yorker,
19 Oct. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Lowlifes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lowlifes. Accessed 26 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
