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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of scamp
Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 6 Aug. 2025
Krypto is, above all, a little scamp, a characterization that Gunn leans on as Krypto playfully roughhouses with Supes in his new film.
—Daniel Dockery, Vulture, 11 July 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for scamp
Noun
Season 2 brings viewers back to Nevermore Academy, the gothic high school for supernatural scamps that Wednesday enrolled in last time around, and subsequently helped save from Season 1 villains Tyler (Hunter Doohan) and Marilyn Thornhill (Christina Ricci, a one-time Wednesday herself).
—Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 6 Aug. 2025
Krypto is, above all, a little scamp, a characterization that Gunn leans on as Krypto playfully roughhouses with Supes in his new film.
—Daniel Dockery, Vulture, 11 July 2025
Verb
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
See All Example Sentences for scamp
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scamp
Noun
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Initial sightings suggested there were four monkeys, but Hauser said officials were unable to confirm the exact number.—
Bailey Richards,
PEOPLE,
13 Jan. 2026
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City officials have urged residents not to approach the monkeys and to contact authorities instead.—
Kelly McGreal,
FOXNews.com,
13 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The Sex and the City villain seemed unsupportive of his longtime co-star and love interest, Sarah Jessica Parker, being honored with a Carol Burnett lifetime-achievement award at the Golden Eve last week.—
Alejandra Gularte,
Vulture,
14 Jan. 2026
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While the Infinity Saga revolved around Thanos (Josh Brolin) as the main villain, the Multiverse Saga will debut Doctor Doom as the big bad in the upcoming film.—
Tommy McArdle,
PEOPLE,
13 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Two-time Olympian Jason Brown entered Saturday’s free skate in third but botched nearly every jump of his long program and tumbled to eighth.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Jan. 2026
-
The most minor miscalculation can botch a landing.—
Marcus Thompson II,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Nobody wants to deal with our old devil, even if the new one comes with an encroaching open threat actively bubbling in the Caribbean and Latin America at large.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Jan. 2026
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But Bourdain, with his devil-be-damned demeanor, somehow makes the dish feel approachable — even though the two chefs’ recipes are pretty similar.—
Gretchen McKay,
Boston Herald,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
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For much of his career, Skarsgård has gravitated toward characters who weaponize physical presence — Vikings, tech titans and mythic brutes whose power is immediately legible.—
Clayton Davis,
Variety,
9 Jan. 2026
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As usual, Lang plays the brute’s Heart of Darkness–esque descent into madness with gleeful relish.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
19 Dec. 2025
Verb
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The last time the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement resulted in the 2012 debacle with replacement referees, where multiple late-game decisions were bungled due to the inexperience of the substitutes.—
Tyler Erzberger,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Dec. 2025
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At that point, the day had been characterized by sloppiness and frustration, with Bears pass catchers failing to secure at least a half-dozen catchable throws from their quarterback and, on three occasions, bungling fourth-down opportunities.—
Dan Wiederer,
New York Times,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
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In the years since 2004’s Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, Penn’s carved out a niche embodying big-talking, attention-grabbing rascals who say inappropriate things, then shrug their way through the consequences.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
12 Jan. 2026
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In a time when unemployment is on the rise and the rich are running amok and wreaking havoc on the poor — and the social services in place to support them — who doesn’t love the idea of rogue rascals sticking it to a bougie institution by running off with its crown jewels?—
Kathleen Newman-Bremang,
Refinery29,
12 Nov. 2025
Noun
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In it, Oldham costumes up as a shaggy woodland monster, which—after a more nimble inhabitant seemingly swaps into the outfit—proceeds to engage a human in an elaborate dance routine.—
Jazz Monroe,
Pitchfork,
7 Jan. 2026
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That mentality has fueled a monster debut season for Porter County Conference leader Kouts (12-3, 4-1).—
Noah Poser,
Chicago Tribune,
7 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Scamp.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scamp. Accessed 15 Jan. 2026.
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