variants
or scallywag
as in brute
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person
a scalawag who had taken to begging on street corners while posing as a blind person
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of scalawag
And yet, after a series of further downward spirals that will dig this scalawag even deeper into a hole and some supernatural mumbo-jumbo, his luck curiously starts to change….
—
David Fear, Rolling Stone, 14 Oct. 2025
Ticketed experiences include a cannon battle aboard a tall ship, tours of the tall ships in port, a mermaid meet-and-greet and swim show, pirate school for scallywags and more.
—Marla Jo Fisher, Oc Register, 8 Sep. 2025
Among the most memorable was the Oyster Wars, a series of clashes dating back to the 1830s with scalawags descending from all over, looking to cash in on the valuable bivalves.
—Baltimore Sun Editorial Board, Baltimore Sun, 2 July 2024
The large cast, costumed and made up as a fitly scalawags and sinister buccaneers, gives tremendous energy to every scene.
—Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 July 2023
Chadha-Patel is ambiguously charming as a scalawag not entirely out for himself.
—cleveland, 1 Dec. 2022
David Fear, Rolling Stone, 14 Oct. 2025
Ticketed experiences include a cannon battle aboard a tall ship, tours of the tall ships in port, a mermaid meet-and-greet and swim show, pirate school for scallywags and more.
—Marla Jo Fisher, Oc Register, 8 Sep. 2025
Among the most memorable was the Oyster Wars, a series of clashes dating back to the 1830s with scalawags descending from all over, looking to cash in on the valuable bivalves.
—Baltimore Sun Editorial Board, Baltimore Sun, 2 July 2024
The large cast, costumed and made up as a fitly scalawags and sinister buccaneers, gives tremendous energy to every scene.
—Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 July 2023
Chadha-Patel is ambiguously charming as a scalawag not entirely out for himself.
—cleveland, 1 Dec. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scalawag
Noun
-
An extermination of the brutes in the Middle East, presided over by Obama’s successors, has been followed by a swift cancellation by Trumpian decree of the postracial age.—
Pankaj Mishra,
Harpers Magazine,
19 Sep. 2025
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Each fits into typical RPG classes — with Armon being the close combat brute, Harlow the magical crowd control specialist, Rafa the agile rogue, and Vex serving as a summoner who calls on minions to do the dirty work.—
George Yang,
Rolling Stone,
11 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Yet if the Dodgers are to be cast as villains from the Book of Samuel, Toronto brought to the fight far more than pebbles.—
Andy McCullough,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
-
The family moved to Hollywood 10 years later, and Gene Lockhart worked steadily as a character actor, usually in avuncular roles, sometimes as a villain.—
NPR,
NPR,
25 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
That savage is now incarcerated for impregnating his own underage daughter.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
25 Oct. 2025
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And that friction — between soft and savage — is what keeps us going.—
Alma Rota,
Rolling Stone,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
It’s scorned Donald, who saw that scoundrel Lee leaving his mistress’s house this morning.—
Amanda Whiting,
Vulture,
15 Oct. 2025
-
Yet, bizarrely, the TV show undercuts this angle by inventing a serial killer nurse from whole cloth, a move that shifts the blame away from systemic forces and toward a motiveless scoundrel.—
Graham Hillard,
The Washington Examiner,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Only Martin — cast as a Dickensian wretch by Bonitzer’s legion of myopic elites, but always quietly acting against type — reserves the right to determine his own worth.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
29 Oct. 2025
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This mid-movie handoff dilutes the shock of how articulate the wretch proves in del Toro’s telling (the creature could barely speak in James Whale’s original Universal monster movie).—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
30 Aug. 2025
Noun
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But China has not made such statements, and there’s still a risk that the two strongmen can’t see eye to eye or a rogue comment throws off the delicate detente.—
Simone McCarthy,
CNN Money,
28 Oct. 2025
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Then, that very same AI version of Stella went rogue during a press conference and revealed a bunch of her secrets to the press including her affair with her boss’s husband, Miles (Aaron Pierre).—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
22 Oct. 2025
Noun
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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
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And Eli was, at times, a bit of a rascal.—
David Kamp,
New Yorker,
4 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
How does history distinguish knaves from legendary figures?—
W.E. Gutman,
Sun Sentinel,
8 July 2025
-
Human beings are motivated by virtue (knights) or rigid self-interest (knaves), or are passive victims of their circumstances (pawns).—
Sachin H. Jain,
Forbes,
20 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Scalawag.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scalawag. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
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