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
-
In its earlier days, The Boys might have done something with how Nanjiani’s Eternals and Rogen’s The Green Hornet both underperformed, and the Kick-Ass movies in which Mintz-Plasse played a villain left little cultural footprint.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Most of his videos, filmed in a local studio or sometimes on the streets of Charlotte, are high-quality shorts showing him in throes of battle with classic villains like Killer Croc or Bane.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
This time the closing hole was a brute, the toughest at Harbour Town on Sunday.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
19 Apr. 2026
-
And what better way to force that out of her than to put her up against a brute of a man who has all the confidence in the world?—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
16 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Streep’s beloved ice queen portrayal wasn’t as savage as the book, where the character was a British dictator in designer glasses.—
Matt Donnelly,
Variety,
23 Apr. 2026
-
One answer would be that the more savage the storm, the more urgent the need for safe havens.—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
One untitled work from 1994 shows a strange monster—a guard bent over, gazing back at us between his own legs, his upside-down grin framed by his jackboots.—
Ben Davis,
The New York Review of Books,
25 Apr. 2026
-
The Browns, who have openly admitted regret over the monster trade and deal, restructured his contract last month for a third time in roughly a yearlong span.—
Ryan Morik,
FOXNews.com,
25 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Many of the toughest criminals taken into ICE custody were already in prison, but many others who were arrested have no criminal history.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
25 Apr. 2026
-
In the furthest part of space lies Dante 01, a detention facility that houses criminals who have committed the most shocking crimes imaginable.—
Sergio Pereira,
Space.com,
25 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
While the movie has some fun asking whether people actually want to know everything about their partners (a devil’s bargain since time immemorial), its real interest lies in how that knowledge is colored by who shares it.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
31 Mar. 2026
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Its theme — that the rich are different, and in not-good ways — meant she’d be forced into a ritualistic game of hide-and-seek, running for her life from her devil-worshipping, masters-of-the-world in-laws.—
Michael Ordoña,
Houston Chronicle,
19 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The first time, Julian’s children (James Corden, Jessica Gunning) seemed like miserable, greedy wretches.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
11 Apr. 2026
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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
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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
-
Sure, the Oscar-winning makeup helps transform the actor into Cheney, but the voice and petulance are all Bale, whose conjuring of this scoundrel ought to trigger PTSD for anyone who survived the Dubya years.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
7 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Scapegrace.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scapegrace. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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