1
as in monkey
an appealingly mischievous person
you little rascal, I saw you snitching some hors d'oeuvres even though our guests haven't even arrived yet
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2
as in villain
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person
some cold-blooded rascal had set the barn afire
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Recent Examples of rascal
The hilarious hijinks that ensue are centered on a rugby-playing rascal whose initial interests in pulling chicks and working get-rich-quick schemes give way to a lifelong love of writing poetry in the post-Soviet-occupation era of the 1990s.
—
Courtney Howard, Variety, 30 Oct. 2025
And Eli was, at times, a bit of a rascal.
—David Kamp, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2025
In the process of the deal going bad, Vince presumably kills a man with his car, but since it’s never mentioned again during the course of the series, he’s allowed to be treated as a lovable rascal.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 16 Sep. 2025
The former child actors have grown up since their go-kart derby days on-screen — some have even welcomed their own little rascals off-screen.
—Keith Langston, People.com, 5 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rascal
Courtney Howard, Variety, 30 Oct. 2025
And Eli was, at times, a bit of a rascal.
—David Kamp, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2025
In the process of the deal going bad, Vince presumably kills a man with his car, but since it’s never mentioned again during the course of the series, he’s allowed to be treated as a lovable rascal.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 16 Sep. 2025
The former child actors have grown up since their go-kart derby days on-screen — some have even welcomed their own little rascals off-screen.
—Keith Langston, People.com, 5 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rascal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rascal
Noun
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The same is true for other mammals such as monkeys and mice.—
Jackie Flynn Mogensen,
Scientific American,
9 Apr. 2026
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Huyghe sourced the monkey from Tokyo, where it had been trained to work as a server in a restaurant.—
Shanti Escalante-De Mattei,
ARTnews.com,
6 Apr. 2026
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
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Wagner had only occasional presence and went MIA for awhile, coming across as a shady character and a possible villain who was set up as a potential love interest for Morgan early on.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
7 Apr. 2026
Noun
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While the movie has some fun asking whether people actually want to know everything about their partners (a devil’s bargain since time immemorial), its real interest lies in how that knowledge is colored by who shares it.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
31 Mar. 2026
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Is chocolate devil’s food cake with ganache your favorite birthday cake?—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Mar. 2026
Noun
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That’s happened in several Mid Atlantic rivers, but in the absence of larger brutes like blues and flathead, channels will thrive and can break the 15-pound mark.—
Joe Cermele,
Outdoor Life,
9 Apr. 2026
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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
Noun
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The wereboar growled next to Black Pudding, a hulking vicious monster, both focused on ripping Puck and Cordelia to shreds.—
Jaclyn Cosgrove,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2026
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Daniel Bernhardt is Deathstalker, a legendary swordsman stuck with a cursed amulet who befriends swamp monsters and teams with a mini wizard (voiced by Patton Oswalt) to stop a dark magic from ruling the land.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
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This one just happens to involve wizards, goblins, and one savage, half-blind dragon.—
Séamas O'Reilly,
Vulture,
26 Mar. 2026
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Just as all British became painted as corrupt as part of their national character, so too did all Native people become seen as savage by their biological nature.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The scheme is designed to identify suspected criminals, combat identity fraud, and to police the EU's limit on 90-day stays within a 180-day period, according to the European Commission.—
Emma Clarke,
Condé Nast Traveler,
10 Apr. 2026
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Rex Heuermann, the man known as the Gilgo Beach killer, admitted to killing eight women over a span of decades, and the FBI is now looking into what motivated the 62-year-old to carry out his crimes to help capture other criminals in the future.—
Matt Lavietes,
NBC news,
9 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Sure, the Oscar-winning makeup helps transform the actor into Cheney, but the voice and petulance are all Bale, whose conjuring of this scoundrel ought to trigger PTSD for anyone who survived the Dubya years.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
7 Mar. 2026
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Political leaders who encourage or tolerate such scoundrels should be driven from office.—
Tom Nichols,
The Atlantic,
23 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Rascal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rascal. Accessed 12 Apr. 2026.
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