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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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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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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Resident parrots, monkeys, and sea turtles delight guests, while the beach, multiple swimming pools, and a series of freshwater canals, traversable by boat, provide non-stop activity options.—
Allison Tibaldi,
USA Today,
27 Sep. 2025
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People quickly reacted to the monkey’s birth on the zoo’s Facebook post.—
Brian Anthony Hernandez,
PEOPLE,
27 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Currently, Wiig is in her villain era.—
Charna Flam,
PEOPLE,
4 Oct. 2025
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With Ka-young’s help, Iblis is able to destroy the Flower of Eternal Life, which had allowed Khalid to live forever (at least until this point), and the villain fades to dust.—
Kayti Burt,
Time,
3 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Vince has one heck of a lead, but while Ashley struggles to find all her puzzle pieces, Vince is completely botching the days his fellow houseguests left the game.—
Nick Caruso,
TVLine,
28 Sep. 2025
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Barney excelled at the technique, leaving Lily no choice but to flash him as a distraction to botch the final move.—
Francesca Gariano,
PEOPLE,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
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But this is no case study in the evils of devil-worshipping musicians.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
29 Sep. 2025
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Whether or not Alice lived happily ever after, Gertrude seems to have done so, at least once her devils were banished by inscrutability.—
Judith Thurman,
New Yorker,
29 Sep. 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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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
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Zach Johnson has spent the past two years in the awkward air of bungling the Americans’ 2023 trip to Rome.—
Brendan Quinn,
New York Times,
29 Sep. 2025
Noun
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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
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The former child actors have grown up since their go-kart derby days on-screen — some have even welcomed their own little rascals off-screen.—
Keith Langston,
People.com,
5 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Fan Fest Nights would not be the first time that Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Wolf Man and other classic monsters have shared space with Scooby-Doo and the gang.—
Robert Niles,
Oc Register,
30 Sep. 2025
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But the trip is going to be an extreme test of fortitude, fate, and faith, evidenced by Lionsgate's preview revealing obstacles including a hellish radiation storm, monster waves, meteors pummeling the Earth, and lethal bands of desperate survivors prowling the continent.—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
30 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Scamp.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scamp. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
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