1
as in masses
people looked down upon as ignorant and of the lowest class
claimed that only scum lived in that part of town
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in bastard
a person whose behavior is offensive to others
ignore the heckler—he's complete scum
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of scum
America will live on without those scum on this earth.
—
Louis Casiano, FOXNews.com, 28 May 2026
Post-Shower Maintenance To a similar effect, a microfiber cloth can become your shower's best defense against soap scum.
—Jamie Cuccinelli, Martha Stewart, 27 May 2026
While Embo didn’t have much screen time, he can be glimpsed among the scum and villainy in a handful of episodes including Season 2 Episode 17, Season 5 Episode 14 and Season 6 Episode 5.
—Tracy Brown, Los Angeles Times, 21 May 2026
If any scum rises to the top, skim off and discard.
—Anita Jaisinghani, Houston Chronicle, 3 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for scum
Louis Casiano, FOXNews.com, 28 May 2026
Post-Shower Maintenance To a similar effect, a microfiber cloth can become your shower's best defense against soap scum.
—Jamie Cuccinelli, Martha Stewart, 27 May 2026
While Embo didn’t have much screen time, he can be glimpsed among the scum and villainy in a handful of episodes including Season 2 Episode 17, Season 5 Episode 14 and Season 6 Episode 5.
—Tracy Brown, Los Angeles Times, 21 May 2026
If any scum rises to the top, skim off and discard.
—Anita Jaisinghani, Houston Chronicle, 3 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for scum
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scum
Noun
-
Jongno's gay bars are concentrated on the more discreet second-floor levels overlooking Pocha Street, above the heterosexual rabble.—
Anton Hur,
Condé Nast Traveler,
10 June 2026
-
Though Export’s radical feminist art grew out of a particular political moment that had pretty much passed by the time Yuskavage began her career, the artists nonetheless share a rabble-rousing sensibility and an obsession with the unnerving visual punch of the female body.—
Naomi Fry,
New Yorker,
23 May 2026
Noun
-
This Jamaican restaurant, located just off Main Street, brings Caribbean flavors to Mackinac Island’s solid rotation of restaurants, with planked whitefish and jerk chicken sandwiches.—
Iona Brannon,
Travel + Leisure,
13 June 2026
-
After Game 4, jerks were throwing things at Victor Wembanyama.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
13 June 2026
Noun
-
Pressure from a populace desperate to launder Colombia’s image from headlines of cocaine and civil war.—
Mark Zeigler,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 June 2026
-
Gentile da Foligno in Perugia Italy was one of the few regions in Latin Christendom where physicians organized into guilds in the fourteenth century and thus routinely treated the general populace, rather than merely the wealthier mercantile and aristocratic classes.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 May 2026
Noun
-
The island village is beset by sea hags, serial killers, creepy clowns and other evils that interfere with Tom’s dream of turning Widow’s Bay into a Martha’s Vineyard-like tourist destination.—
Alison Herman,
Variety,
17 June 2026
-
Even the announcers are laughing at the clown Way to swing the bat.—
Zach Dean OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
17 June 2026
Noun
-
Fans from around the world have brought their own traditions to the tournament, from Norway supporters performing a Viking row in perfect unison in the stands in Boston to Japanese fans in Dallas cleaning up stadium trash after matches.—
Kelly McCarthy,
ABC News,
19 June 2026
-
Throwing devices in the trash claimed another 9%.—
Eric Williams,
The Conversation,
18 June 2026
Noun
-
What breaks my heart is that Vermax’s cries sounded like a dog crying, a dog dying.—
Sean T. Collins,
Vulture,
22 June 2026
-
Roughly the size of a large dog and weighing more than 110 pounds (50 kilograms), the quadruped robot is designed to navigate industrial facilities that include staircases, narrow walkways, uneven surfaces, and confined spaces.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
22 June 2026
Noun
-
All that loot pumped out of the Armenian proletariat, says the gaur, and for what.—
Sean Williams,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Severin, on the other hand, represents the revolutionary proletariat.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
16 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The lakeshore bird also faces threats from predators like dogs, coyotes and skunks.—
Christiana Freitag,
Chicago Tribune,
16 June 2026
-
Bruha said preventing access to those areas is one of the most effective ways to keep skunks from settling on a property.—
Kelly McGreal,
FOXNews.com,
14 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Scum.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scum. Accessed 25 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
