1
as in monkey
an appealingly mischievous person
those little scamps are always getting into trouble, but no one has the heart to punish them
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in villain
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person
an insincere and ruthlessly ambitious scamp who was willing to do anything to win the reality show's grand prize
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to botch
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Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of scamp
Elle Carroll, Vulture, 6 Dec. 2021
Sunshine scamps: The Florida Project is a delighful, poignant, dark-and-light movie about kids living on the seedy side of Disney.
—Rebecca Onion, Slate Magazine, 6 Oct. 2017
Ben Travers, IndieWire, 2 Dec. 2024
Silvio Berlusconi, that lovable scamp, made the sign behind the back of the Spanish foreign minister, Josep Piqué, at an official picture-taking of the European Union in 2002.
—Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 2 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for scamp
Noun
While its individual characters feel largely interchangeable, the movie hums with life and pleasure when Borowczyk lets his nuns twirl around the chapel in a painterly tableau and scamp through the convent.
—Elle Carroll, Vulture, 6 Dec. 2021
Sunshine scamps: The Florida Project is a delighful, poignant, dark-and-light movie about kids living on the seedy side of Disney.
—Rebecca Onion, Slate Magazine, 6 Oct. 2017
Verb
The suave scamp buoys a ship taking on water, and the second and third episodes (of the eight-episode first season) pick up speed as their imagination balloons (thanks, in part, to director David Lowery).
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 2 Dec. 2024
Silvio Berlusconi, that lovable scamp, made the sign behind the back of the Spanish foreign minister, Josep Piqué, at an official picture-taking of the European Union in 2002.
—Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 2 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for scamp
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scamp
Noun
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That said, can Milwaukee get the proverbial monkey off its back?—
Scott Phillips,
New York Times,
12 Oct. 2025
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Its cult-classic status among actual keyboard jockeys, code monkeys, and die-hard gamers was all but assured.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
7 Oct. 2025
Noun
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She's been gone for over 20 years, and so to win this for a soap opera, playing a villain, is really wonderful.—
Julia Moore,
PEOPLE,
18 Oct. 2025
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Not to mention Elm Street introduced a villain for the ages in Freddy Krueger, an instant icon played by Robert Englund, whose charisma was strong enough to shine through even the thickest makeup.—
Gwen Ihnat,
Entertainment Weekly,
18 Oct. 2025
Verb
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On the opening drive of the game, the Chargers were flagged for a false start when Johnston and receiver Tre’ Harris botched a pre-snap motion.—
Daniel Popper,
New York Times,
6 Oct. 2025
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But Team Blue ultimately squanders their lead, completely botching the puzzle as the other two tribes smoke theirs.—
Nick Caruso,
TVLine,
1 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Japan had its own landmark naming case in 1994, when a family’s attempt to name their son Akuma, meaning devil, prompted government intervention and a debate over state involvement in naming.—
Laura Sharman,
CNN Money,
14 Oct. 2025
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At that moment, there was no scene involving a devil, but that quickly changed.—
Marina Watts,
PEOPLE,
5 Oct. 2025
Noun
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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
Verb
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The misfiring of Smashing Machine comes in the wake of A24 bungling the opening of horror-comedy, Death of a Unicorn, back in the spring, which after a receptive world premiere at SXSW with Wednesday megastar, Jenna Ortega, tanked with a $5.7M opening and final $12.8M domestic.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
6 Oct. 2025
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One day, calling kids up to get pizza for a class lunch, the teacher repeatedly and purposely bungled her name.—
Borys Kit,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Sep. 2025
Noun
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And Eli was, at times, a bit of a rascal.—
David Kamp,
New Yorker,
4 Oct. 2025
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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
Noun
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Frankenstein's monster is a tortured fellow who's not a big fan of flames.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
14 Oct. 2025
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The same trigger the player would use to shoot a gun is used to throw Poké Balls at unsuspecting monsters, and there’s never been a mechanic in a Pokémon game that feels as immersive.—
Ryan Gaur,
Rolling Stone,
14 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Scamp.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scamp. Accessed 19 Oct. 2025.
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