1
as in villains
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person
halt, vile miscreant, and face justice!
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in criminals
a person who has committed a crime
a youthful offender surrounded in prison by hard-bitten miscreants who had committed just about every crime imaginable
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of miscreants
Little wonder that fascists and other miscreants feel welcome.
—
Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 23 Feb. 2026
Regardless of the bias in whatever racial or political agenda may be behind this nightmarish remake of Eugene O’Neil’s dark drama of societal miscreants, The Iceman Cometh, the ICE men are making sure their own approval rating melts, while doing damage to both commerce and community safety.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 21 Jan. 2026
And, of course, Steven Knight’s Peaky Blinders, whose Shelby family of murderers and miscreants amassed such a cult following over six seasons that the series is getting its own movie in March.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2026
The entire French state has been put into gear to track down the miscreants.
—Lionel Laurent, Twin Cities, 24 Oct. 2025
Space crimes, time crimes, crypto miscreants, brain hacking, AI, robotic crimes.
—Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 6 Oct. 2025
Forget headlines about ransomware paid, or about the billions of dollars lost every year to increasingly clever miscreants.
—Rick Bennett, Time, 17 Sep. 2025
To force him to hand it over, all the movie’s miscreants—headed by a pair of ultra-Orthodox Jewish brothers, Lipa (Liev Schreiber) and Shmully (Vincent D’Onofrio)—subject Hank to relentless rounds of physical and emotional torture.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 28 Aug. 2025
Even miscreants like Steve Albini had purist creeds of conduct.
—Chris R. Morgan, The Washington Examiner, 22 Aug. 2025
Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 23 Feb. 2026
Regardless of the bias in whatever racial or political agenda may be behind this nightmarish remake of Eugene O’Neil’s dark drama of societal miscreants, The Iceman Cometh, the ICE men are making sure their own approval rating melts, while doing damage to both commerce and community safety.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 21 Jan. 2026
And, of course, Steven Knight’s Peaky Blinders, whose Shelby family of murderers and miscreants amassed such a cult following over six seasons that the series is getting its own movie in March.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2026
The entire French state has been put into gear to track down the miscreants.
—Lionel Laurent, Twin Cities, 24 Oct. 2025
Space crimes, time crimes, crypto miscreants, brain hacking, AI, robotic crimes.
—Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 6 Oct. 2025
Forget headlines about ransomware paid, or about the billions of dollars lost every year to increasingly clever miscreants.
—Rick Bennett, Time, 17 Sep. 2025
To force him to hand it over, all the movie’s miscreants—headed by a pair of ultra-Orthodox Jewish brothers, Lipa (Liev Schreiber) and Shmully (Vincent D’Onofrio)—subject Hank to relentless rounds of physical and emotional torture.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 28 Aug. 2025
Even miscreants like Steve Albini had purist creeds of conduct.
—Chris R. Morgan, The Washington Examiner, 22 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for miscreants
Noun
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The movie does attempt to gesture at class and race as thematic underpinnings (the maids trapped in The Virgil are mostly non-white, while the villains are rich Caucasians), but like the story and action at large, these go pretty much nowhere, and feel like obligatory symbols.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
18 Mar. 2026
-
Jack Balderrama Morley examines the beautiful, terrible, villains of reality television.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Many people copy cryptocurrency wallet addresses before sending digital currency, and those addresses can be valuable to criminals.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
21 Mar. 2026
-
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, chair of the council, said Monday that immigrants who aren’t criminals should be able to stay in the country, under certain conditions.—
Ana Goñi-Lessan,
Miami Herald,
20 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The psychology that Bryk wrote for these young men is the key as to why these brutes are more lovable than unbearable.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Variety,
14 Mar. 2026
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Credit to producers Tim Zinnemann and George Linder for selecting a veritable array of brutes to wage battle with Arnold.—
Duane Byrge,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Nov. 2025
Noun
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At the same time, Connecticut continues to pursue criminal justice reforms aimed at reducing incarceration and expanding diversionary opportunities for offenders.—
Keith Wortz,
Hartford Courant,
13 Mar. 2026
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The state's attorney's office is also trying to prevent deaths by requesting detention for felony domestic battery offenders at a much higher rate.—
Megan De Mar,
CBS News,
12 Mar. 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
Noun
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Traditional quest narratives, shaped by the hero’s journey, are tethered to swords, battles, monsters, and a troubling disregard for collateral damage.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
16 Mar. 2026
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The biggest development was the discovery of an audio signal Regan could use to incapacitate the monsters.—
Nick Romano,
Entertainment Weekly,
16 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Other propaganda compared Native people to buffalo, cats, dogs, and devils.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 Mar. 2026
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There are sounds and shadows in the forest; the Devil, or devils, may be walking the earth.—
Joshua Rothman,
New Yorker,
23 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Miscreants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/miscreants. Accessed 23 Mar. 2026.
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