as in monkey
an appealingly mischievous person
we could never resist the little urchin's pleas for candy
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 urchin
She will soon be joined on these windy cardio workouts by a scruffy urchin named Heathcliff (Owen Cooper), whom her father brings home one day.
—
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
In Victorious Cupid, Caravaggio demolished Renaissance ideals of the chubby, celestial putto by depicting a young god with the body of an Adonis and the face and feet of a cheeky street urchin.
—Tobias Grey, Air Mail, 27 Dec. 2025
After the multi-year marine heatwave hit the North Pacific in late 2013, warmer ocean temperatures that followed not only stressed kelp but also worsened the spread of sea star wasting disease that wiped out sunflower sea stars — one of the purple urchin’s main predators.
—Chaewon Chung
december 11, Sacbee.com, 11 Dec. 2025
As Wilford Brimley, Glenn Close and an urchin in a newsboy’s cap look on and the music begins to swell, Roy Hobbs sends that last pitch screaming into the rightfield lights—which triggers a chain reaction of cinematic explosions.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for urchin
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
In Victorious Cupid, Caravaggio demolished Renaissance ideals of the chubby, celestial putto by depicting a young god with the body of an Adonis and the face and feet of a cheeky street urchin.
—Tobias Grey, Air Mail, 27 Dec. 2025
After the multi-year marine heatwave hit the North Pacific in late 2013, warmer ocean temperatures that followed not only stressed kelp but also worsened the spread of sea star wasting disease that wiped out sunflower sea stars — one of the purple urchin’s main predators.
—Chaewon Chung
december 11, Sacbee.com, 11 Dec. 2025
As Wilford Brimley, Glenn Close and an urchin in a newsboy’s cap look on and the music begins to swell, Roy Hobbs sends that last pitch screaming into the rightfield lights—which triggers a chain reaction of cinematic explosions.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for urchin
Recent Examples of Synonyms for urchin
Noun
-
Humans looked evolutionarily weird The research team analyzed handedness data from 2,025 individuals across 41 species of monkeys and apes.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
16 May 2026
-
Charli is a mini purple monkey that fits right on your finger.—
BestReviews,
Mercury News,
15 May 2026
Noun
-
This is the aforementioned devil’s chair.—
Jaclyn Cosgrove,
Los Angeles Times,
7 May 2026
-
And, yes, there is a literal devil in this one, which won’t be a surprise to anyone familiar with LaValle’s novel.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
4 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Urchin.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/urchin. Accessed 22 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
