1
as in monkeys
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 villains
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
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of scamps
Andrew Walsh, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Jan. 2026
McKelway, who wrote for the magazine from the nineteen-thirties to the sixties, specialized in true-crime stories, bringing to life a gallery of scamps and swindlers and impostors.
—David Grann, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2025
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
Noun
The history of The Little Rascals dates back to the 1920s, when a series of short films called our Our Gang introduced audiences to lovable scamps like Spanky, Alfalfa, Buckwheat, and Porky.
—Andrew Walsh, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Jan. 2026
McKelway, who wrote for the magazine from the nineteen-thirties to the sixties, specialized in true-crime stories, bringing to life a gallery of scamps and swindlers and impostors.
—David Grann, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scamps
Noun
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Locals say more than 30,000 green vervet monkeys live on the island, with early morning and late afternoon the best time for monkey spotting.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
15 Feb. 2026
-
Imagery illustrating Black people as apes, monkeys and other primates has long been considered racist in America.—
Kathryn Palmer,
USA Today,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Even the Dodgers, the cartoon villains of spending, kind of sort of have a limit.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
18 Feb. 2026
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Head coach Patty Gasso and her bunch remain the biggest villains in the Texas softball universe.—
Thomas Jones,
Austin American Statesman,
6 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Gentleman thief Sir Charles Lytton (David Niven) circles the prize while Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers) bungles the pursuit with sublime obliviousness.—
Lilah Ramzi,
Vogue,
25 Oct. 2025
Noun
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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
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And then there are the infernal workers who make sure that Lucifer’s realm runs smoothly, among them farting devils, giants in chains, and a flying monster with the body of a serpent and the face of an honest man.—
Eric Bulson,
The Atlantic,
2 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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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
Verb
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Continue reading … FACT CHECK – Washington Post botches Israel-Gaza history leading to major correction.—
,
FOXNews.com,
3 Sep. 2025
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
Verb
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Sparks muffs the punt and South Alabama recovers on Texas State's 39-yard line.—
Caleb Yum,
Austin American Statesman,
29 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Scamps.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scamps. Accessed 20 Feb. 2026.
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