rapscallions

noun

plural of rapscallion
1
as in villains
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person the city's run-down waterfront was occupied mostly by disreputable places frequented by drunkards and rapscallions

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in monkeys
an appealingly mischievous person that little rapscallion kept hiding my shoes and making me go look for them

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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 rapscallions Imagine how Lowell’s most fun, most ferocious rock ‘n’ roll rapscallions will do Sabbath during their tribute set May 2 at the Smokehouse Tavern. — Jed Gottlieb, Boston Herald, 26 Apr. 2026 Twin brothers, these rapscallions can be told apart by Boris’s kinked tail and the colors of their collars. — Literary Hub, 10 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rapscallions
  1. villains
  2. monkeys
  3. brutes
  4. devils
  5. criminals
  6. rascals
  7. offenders
  8. savages
Noun
  • The New Zealander drew international acclaim for roles as gruff loners and unhinged villains.
    — Harrison Smith, Washington Post, 13 July 2026
  • Neill played dashing heroes, sinister villains (see The Piano), authority figures, famous figures, and father figures.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 13 July 2026
Definition of villains
Noun
  • Long-term studies in monkeys did not show the same abnormal thyroid cell growth seen in rodents.
    — Ziyad Al-Aly, The Conversation, 13 July 2026
  • The magazine’s anatomically graphic photos—rats butchered alive, dogs with their faces sliced open, monkeys screaming at the electrodes implanted in their abdomens—seemed like windows into hell.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 July 2026
Definition of monkeys
Noun
  • These brutes commonly exceed 50 pounds.
    — Keith Sutton, Outdoor Life, 18 June 2026
  • In Raspail’s tale, hordes of impoverished and dark-​skinned brutes from India descend onto French shores by way of rafts, the first wave of an invasion of the civilized West by the brown-​skinned developing world.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 8 Apr. 2026
Definition of brutes
Noun
  • The 152 rooms celebrate Tasmania’s cultural and creative spirit, from the contemporary paintings of thylacines and Tasmanian devils, to the Blackheart sassafras ceiling inlays.
    — Riley Wilson, Travel + Leisure, 19 June 2026
  • But there are lots of potential devils in the details (otherwise there’d be little need for experimental reactors).
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 9 June 2026
Definition of devils
Noun
  • Supporters will argue that criminals should not be able to hide behind wallets.
    — Susie Violet Ward, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
  • And just like Alito, some members of my family have forgotten our history and support Trump or favor some of his immigration policies, dismissing new arrivals as criminals or lazy.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026
Definition of criminals
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
Definition of rascals
Noun
  • For traffickers and offenders who rely on quick escapes along our state’s busy roadways, LPRs strip away their advantage.
    — Charles "Chuck" Broadway, The Orlando Sentinel, 10 July 2026
  • The work paid off with stacks of citations across the Sacramento area, officials said, and steep costs for offenders — including a fine of $100,000 or more for one Del Paso Heights home’s pyrotechnic display.
    — Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 8 July 2026
Definition of offenders
Noun
  • Or a group of shipwrecked boys turning into savages and killing one another?
    — Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2026
  • The Indians in Westerns had war paint and whooped like savages.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 May 2026
Definition of savages

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Cite this Entry

“Rapscallions.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rapscallions. Accessed 15 Jul. 2026.

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