variants
or scallywag
as in brute
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person
a scalawag who had taken to begging on street corners while posing as a blind person
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of scalawag
Among the most memorable was the Oyster Wars, a series of clashes dating back to the 1830s with scalawags descending from all over, looking to cash in on the valuable bivalves.
—
Baltimore Sun Editorial Board, Baltimore Sun, 2 July 2024
The large cast, costumed and made up as a fitly scalawags and sinister buccaneers, gives tremendous energy to every scene.
—Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 July 2023
Chadha-Patel is ambiguously charming as a scalawag not entirely out for himself.
—cleveland, 1 Dec. 2022
Baltimore Sun Editorial Board, Baltimore Sun, 2 July 2024
The large cast, costumed and made up as a fitly scalawags and sinister buccaneers, gives tremendous energy to every scene.
—Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 July 2023
Chadha-Patel is ambiguously charming as a scalawag not entirely out for himself.
—cleveland, 1 Dec. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scalawag
Noun
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By the end of the episode, the audience is eager to meet the antihero, the brute, that everyone is talking about.—
Maelle Beauget-Uhl,
Forbes,
14 Mar. 2025
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Slinging a sports coat over his pajamas, Long pulls up to a curb and finds Tay (Dustin Nguyen), the Vietnamese speaker, plus two silent brutes, Eddie (Phi Vu) and Aden (Dali Benssalah), who muscle into his car and take over everything: the seating arrangements, the air freshener and their driver.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
2 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Children meet superheroes and villains, engage with games and movies, and are greeted by staff in costume.—
Chris Gallagher,
USA Today,
19 Apr. 2025
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The soul patch, villain, and walrus facial hair all work with masks while mutton chops and chin curtain don’t.—
Lisa Wood Shapiro,
Wired News,
18 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Often regarded by historians as a collection of savage tribes, the Scythians emerge as a pivotal force of the ancient world in this monumental history.—
The New Yorker,
The New Yorker,
30 Jan. 2023
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Nearly 32 years ago, Rodney King’s savage beating by police in Los Angeles prompted heartfelt calls for change.—
Aaron Morrison, Claudia Lauer and Adrian Sainz,
Anchorage Daily News,
29 Jan. 2023
Noun
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This painting becomes the center of a scheme to weaken Cosimo’s reputation, and Benvenuto Cellini, sculptor, goldsmith and all-around scoundrel, is hired to steal it — a choice that leads to some of the most hilarious high jinks in the book.—
Chelsea Leu,
New York Times,
12 Apr. 2025
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Yet too many Democrats are reacting as though Musk himself is the scoundrel.—
Stephen Moore,
Boston Herald,
3 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Since then, he’s been a haunted wretch of a character: stoned, sullen, stuck with recurring visions of shooting his wife and himself.—
Sophie Gilbert,
The Atlantic,
8 Apr. 2025
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The unfortunate wretch makes an exciting escape, killing her captor in the process.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
18 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Saturday's talks in Rome between the Trump administration and the Islamic Republic of Iran over the rogue regime’s failure to dismantle its illicit nuclear weapons program have raised pressing questions about whether Tehran will adhere to a new deal.—
Benjamin Weinthal,
FOXNews.com,
19 Apr. 2025
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Sadly, for now, Murkowski is one of vanishingly few Republican politicians with the guts to speak up against the party’s rogue president — a brave, but lonely, voice in the wilderness.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Alex has two choices: Linger at Union Station and see what rascals cross her path, or take up an invitation to join her British guardian angels at their home in Winnetka.—
Amanda Whiting,
Vulture,
23 Mar. 2025
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After their car is stolen, the group of rascals must resort to some hilarious hijinks to get past the finish line.—
Kara Nesvig,
Parents,
12 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Implications Le Grand's work on post-World War II British social policy found that perceptions of human motivations gradually transformed, with the prevailing view of the typical British citizenry morphing from knight into knave as the costs of maintaining an expensive welfare state increased.—
Sachin H. Jain,
Forbes,
20 Dec. 2024
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Human beings are motivated by virtue (knights) or rigid self-interest (knaves), or are passive victims of their circumstances (pawns).—
Sachin H. Jain,
Forbes,
20 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Scalawag.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scalawag. Accessed 24 Apr. 2025.
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