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
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This year’s furry green villain is more funny than scary, his behavior unthreatening, his confrontational manner with the Whos never feeling particularly dangerous.—
Rob Hubbard,
Twin Cities,
8 Nov. 2025
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The cast picture also included Brett Gelman, Priah Ferguson, Cara Buono, Amybeth McNulty and Jamie Campbell Bower, the latter who joined the cast in season 4 as the show's villain, Vecna.—
Kelsie Gibson,
PEOPLE,
8 Nov. 2025
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
Noun
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Brutal, savage, and gory, this movie follows a home invasion on Christmas Eve where a mysterious woman (Béatrice Dalle) tries to steal an unborn baby right out of another woman's (Alysson Paradis) pregnant belly.—
Huntley Woods,
Entertainment Weekly,
19 Dec. 2025
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Eleonora wearing a snake, Nicole’s Reputation hair from earlier in the season, the use of the word savage constantly and from out of nowhere.—
Anne Victoria Clark,
Vulture,
31 Oct. 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
Noun
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In other court cases, some civil and some criminal, involving a total of nearly 300 additional hectares near Vlora, Shehu and his family members are accused of grabbing property through similar forgeries.—
Lindita Cela,
Miami Herald,
7 Nov. 2025
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The trio has a surprisingly good theory about the implosion of the makeshift Astral Pulse; seems like Shroud never found the original, and someone has been outfitting low-level criminals with bootlegs that are going awry like Robert’s.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
7 Nov. 2025
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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Only Martin — cast as a Dickensian wretch by Bonitzer’s legion of myopic elites, but always quietly acting against type — reserves the right to determine his own worth.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
29 Oct. 2025
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This mid-movie handoff dilutes the shock of how articulate the wretch proves in del Toro’s telling (the creature could barely speak in James Whale’s original Universal monster movie).—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
30 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Going back to the origins of everyone's favorite scoundrel, Han Solo, may have felt like a no-brainer — especially with Kasdan on board as co-writer — but the film never felt like an essential addition to the rapidly expanding canon.—
Richard Edwards,
Space.com,
17 Dec. 2025
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Giannis, a gentleman even in this era of scoundrels, likely wants to do right by the Bucks, too.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
3 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Scapegrace.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scapegrace. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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