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
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
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
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Cops released surveillance photos of a trio of brutes wanted for punching, repeatedly stabbing and robbing a man on a Bronx train last month.—
Emma Seiwell,
New York Daily News,
7 June 2025
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Meanwhile, Conner was still battling his brute of a blue cat.—
Bob McNally,
Outdoor Life,
21 May 2025
Noun
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New threats emerge, including a ruthless new villain (Bill Skarsgård) and a blind assassin from Wick’s past, played by Donnie Yen in a standout performance.—
Emily Blackwood,
People.com,
6 June 2025
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Nicholas Hoult plays the film’s villain, the megalomaniac super-genius Lex Luthor.—
Jack Dunn,
Variety,
5 June 2025
Noun
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Often regarded by historians as a collection of savage tribes, the Scythians emerge as a pivotal force of the ancient world in this monumental history.—
The New Yorker,
The New Yorker,
30 Jan. 2023
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Nearly 32 years ago, Rodney King’s savage beating by police in Los Angeles prompted heartfelt calls for change.—
Aaron Morrison, Claudia Lauer and Adrian Sainz,
Anchorage Daily News,
29 Jan. 2023
Noun
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Like a Dickensian Andy Capp, Johnson is an uber-charming rogue, an everyman bluesy belter whose winking humor with a hint of the scoundrel are not entirely unlike Scott’s demeanor, though each man’s vocals, inflection and stage presence are/were clearly their own.—
Katherine Turman,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Apr. 2025
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In the first, Trump treated a moral hero as an ungrateful scoundrel.—
David Remnick,
New Yorker,
27 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Since then, he’s been a haunted wretch of a character: stoned, sullen, stuck with recurring visions of shooting his wife and himself.—
Sophie Gilbert,
The Atlantic,
8 Apr. 2025
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The unfortunate wretch makes an exciting escape, killing her captor in the process.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
18 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Going rogue against the Director’s wishes, Eve turns her quest for vengeance into a rescue when a little girl is kidnapped, and globe trots from a neon New York nightclub to a snowy Austrian village full of murderous locals.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
5 June 2025
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Informed that the Chancellor is somewhere near Prague, Eve goes rogue by violating the Ruska Roma’s orders, flying across the Atlantic, and killing her way closer to her target.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
4 June 2025
Noun
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Alex has two choices: Linger at Union Station and see what rascals cross her path, or take up an invitation to join her British guardian angels at their home in Winnetka.—
Amanda Whiting,
Vulture,
23 Mar. 2025
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After their car is stolen, the group of rascals must resort to some hilarious hijinks to get past the finish line.—
Kara Nesvig,
Parents,
12 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Implications Le Grand's work on post-World War II British social policy found that perceptions of human motivations gradually transformed, with the prevailing view of the typical British citizenry morphing from knight into knave as the costs of maintaining an expensive welfare state increased.—
Sachin H. Jain,
Forbes,
20 Dec. 2024
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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 12 Jun. 2025.
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