variants
or scallywags
as in villains
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 scalawags
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
Marla Jo Fisher, Oc Register, 8 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scalawags
Noun
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The movie does attempt to gesture at class and race as thematic underpinnings (the maids trapped in The Virgil are mostly non-white, while the villains are rich Caucasians), but like the story and action at large, these go pretty much nowhere, and feel like obligatory symbols.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
18 Mar. 2026
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Jack Balderrama Morley examines the beautiful, terrible, villains of reality television.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 Mar. 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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Many people copy cryptocurrency wallet addresses before sending digital currency, and those addresses can be valuable to criminals.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
21 Mar. 2026
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Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, chair of the council, said Monday that immigrants who aren’t criminals should be able to stay in the country, under certain conditions.—
Ana Goñi-Lessan,
Miami Herald,
20 Mar. 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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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
Noun
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At the same time, Connecticut continues to pursue criminal justice reforms aimed at reducing incarceration and expanding diversionary opportunities for offenders.—
Keith Wortz,
Hartford Courant,
13 Mar. 2026
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The state's attorney's office is also trying to prevent deaths by requesting detention for felony domestic battery offenders at a much higher rate.—
Megan De Mar,
CBS News,
12 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Traditional quest narratives, shaped by the hero’s journey, are tethered to swords, battles, monsters, and a troubling disregard for collateral damage.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
16 Mar. 2026
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The biggest development was the discovery of an audio signal Regan could use to incapacitate the monsters.—
Nick Romano,
Entertainment Weekly,
16 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Political leaders who encourage or tolerate such scoundrels should be driven from office.—
Tom Nichols,
The Atlantic,
23 Feb. 2026
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Giannis, a gentleman even in this era of scoundrels, likely wants to do right by the Bucks, too.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
3 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Scalawags.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scalawags. Accessed 24 Mar. 2026.
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