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
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
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
Inga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Mar. 2026
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for miscreants
Noun
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Design There’s a reason James Bond villains chase 007’s Aston Martin in fleets of black Defenders.—
John Scott Lewinski,
Robb Report,
8 Apr. 2026
-
In the two-parter, which airs April 14 (8PM – 10 PM), the series’ central character, Amy (Molly Parker) will risk her life for one of the series’ main villains, Richard (Scott Wolf), who had killed a patient, tried to cover it up and blamed it on Amy, almost ending her career.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
7 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Göring, played by Russell Crowe, is the troubling centerpiece of James Vanderbilt’s ambitious film devoted to the trial of the major Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg in 1945–1946.—
Alice Kaplan,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Apr. 2026
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Also included is a 13% increase in funding for the Department of Justice to focus on violent criminals and a $481 million increase in funding to enhance aviation safety and support an air traffic controller hiring surge.—
LISA MASCARO,
Arkansas Online,
4 Apr. 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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Anyone can see how many cases are filed, how much attorneys collect, and who the worst offenders are.—
Tom Manzo,
Oc Register,
6 Apr. 2026
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Punish the worst offenders by requiring them to apologize, publicly, for missing the mark.—
Louisa Thomas,
New Yorker,
5 Apr. 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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The nonlinear experience will feature show moments with each of the four monsters and a finale with a different ending every night.—
Brady MacDonald,
Oc Register,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Explore this gallery of ghastly classic movie monsters.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
2 Apr. 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 9 Apr. 2026.
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