as in villain
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person
a whoring, drunken scapegrace who was blackening the family's name
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Recent Examples of scapegrace
Her affect evokes old-timey words — scamp, scapegrace, minx.
—
New York Times, 22 July 2021
Suddenly, Juliana’s romantic ennui is interrupted by the reappearance, after an 11-year absence, of her scapegrace oldest brother.
—Michael Dirda, Washington Post, 12 Feb. 2020
The Middle Ages died dismally, and the scapegrace poet Francois Villon sang their requiem in the wineshops of the Cité.
—Bruce Dale, National Geographic, 17 Apr. 2019
New York Times, 22 July 2021
Suddenly, Juliana’s romantic ennui is interrupted by the reappearance, after an 11-year absence, of her scapegrace oldest brother.
—Michael Dirda, Washington Post, 12 Feb. 2020
The Middle Ages died dismally, and the scapegrace poet Francois Villon sang their requiem in the wineshops of the Cité.
—Bruce Dale, National Geographic, 17 Apr. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scapegrace
Noun
-
Her bone-chilling performance earned her the MTV Movie Award for best villain, beating out the likes of Daniel Day-Lewis, Mike Myers, Willem Dafoe and Colin Farrell in her category.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
17 June 2026
-
This was my villain origin story.—
Lauryn Overhultz,
FOXNews.com,
17 June 2026
Noun
-
Shinnecock was still a brute of a test, but the red numbers on the white scoreboard were an unfamiliar site for this course.—
Doug Ferguson,
Los Angeles Times,
19 June 2026
-
These brutes commonly exceed 50 pounds.—
Keith Sutton,
Outdoor Life,
18 June 2026
Noun
-
Or a group of shipwrecked boys turning into savages and killing one another?—
Glenn Whipp,
Los Angeles Times,
8 June 2026
-
The Indians in Westerns had war paint and whooped like savages.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 May 2026
Noun
-
Then, one weekend about three years ago, Meledandri called with an idea — a Minion who sets out to make a monster movie.—
Elsa Keslassy,
Variety,
20 June 2026
-
The women’s Cloudmonster Shoe fittingly packs a monster-sized amount of cushioning.—
Jasmine Gomez,
Travel + Leisure,
20 June 2026
Noun
-
This makes your accounts much harder to break into, even if a criminal gets control of your phone number.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
19 June 2026
-
And historically, denaturalization has been reserved for the most egregious offenders, such as human rights abusers and violent criminals.—
Camilo Montoya-Galvez,
CBS News,
18 June 2026
Noun
-
But there are lots of potential devils in the details (otherwise there’d be little need for experimental reactors).—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
9 June 2026
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The two vivid soloists were tenor Anthony León as the cocky troubadour and baritone Eleomar Cuello as the cocky devil.—
Classical Music Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
9 June 2026
Noun
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The first time, Julian’s children (James Corden, Jessica Gunning) seemed like miserable, greedy wretches.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
11 Apr. 2026
-
The elegant sets and lavish costume designs are stunning, as is Jacob Elordi's multi-faceted performance as the intelligent wretch stitched together from corpses.—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
27 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Paxton, meanwhile, is known for being a scoundrel.—
Nicole Russell,
USA Today,
28 May 2026
-
New Orleans has long been notorious for embracing such scoundrels, a reputation that isn’t exactly helped by the fact that, for many years, disgraced attorneys who lost their licenses in Louisiana and applied for readmission to the bar often got it.—
Patrick Radden Keefe,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Scapegrace.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scapegrace. Accessed 21 Jun. 2026.
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