1
as in villains
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person
halt, vile miscreant, and face justice!
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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
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.
Recent Examples of miscreants
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 J6ers were not insurrectionists, traitors, and miscreants but patriots, heroes, and innocents.
—Jamie Thompson, The Atlantic, 6 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
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 J6ers were not insurrectionists, traitors, and miscreants but patriots, heroes, and innocents.
—Jamie Thompson, The Atlantic, 6 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
-
Head coach Patty Gasso and her bunch remain the biggest villains in the Texas softball universe.—
Thomas Jones,
Austin American Statesman,
6 Feb. 2026
-
As the Masters of the Universe makes its way to the big screen, one of Saturday morning cartoons’ most iconic villains is getting the cinematic treatment.—
Glenn Garner,
Deadline,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
There’s no word on ICE having a special decoder ring that tracks only the criminals.—
Tressie McMillan Cottom,
Mercury News,
7 Feb. 2026
-
Houser said that because the majority of Americans support removing serious criminals, the White House muddies the waters in an effort to maintain support for mass deportations.—
Trevor Hughes,
USA Today,
7 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
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
-
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
-
Despite the wholesale change in how California sentences juvenile offenders, outrage over the crime has not faded.—
Kelly Davis,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Feb. 2026
-
In 2024, the Associated Press reported that inmates at a Virginia facility that predominantly holds mentally ill offenders were hospitalized for hypothermia at least 13 times over the course of three years.—
N'dea Yancey-Bragg,
USA Today,
8 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Monster High centers around a fictional high school attended by the teenage children of famous monsters and has expanded into various forms of media thus far.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
3 Feb. 2026
-
Original characters will return to fight new monsters and solve a paranormal mystery.—
Marina Johnson,
IndyStar,
3 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
There are sounds and shadows in the forest; the Devil, or devils, may be walking the earth.—
Joshua Rothman,
New Yorker,
23 Jan. 2026
-
And then there are the infernal workers who make sure that Lucifer’s realm runs smoothly, among them farting devils, giants in chains, and a flying monster with the body of a serpent and the face of an honest man.—
Eric Bulson,
The Atlantic,
2 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Miscreants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/miscreants. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
