caitiff

American  

[key-tif] / ˈkeɪ tɪf /

noun

1. a base, despicable person.

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adjective

1. base; despicable.

caitiff British  

/ ˈkeɪtɪf /

noun

1. a cowardly or base person

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adjective

1. cowardly; base

Etymology

Origin of caitiff

1250–1300; Middle English caitif < Anglo-French < Latin captīvus captive

Example Sentences

If a celebrated classroom caitiff like Peck's Bad Boy or Huckleberry Finn were to cut his swath through a U. S. school today, he would probably get off with a restrained scolding.

From Time Magazine Archive

I will incontinently visit this dangerous caitiff," he said, "and if I find matters as bad as you say, I will take means to secure him and prevent mischief.

From William Shakespeare as he lived. An Historical Tale by Curling, Henry

Then to the green wood, caitiff, haste away: There take your chance to live—for Truth must say, We have no right, for theft, to hang up Tray.

From The Poems of Philip Freneau, Volume II (of III) by Freneau, Philip

Alas, caitiff that I am, why did I leave the place whereto I was appointed and wherein I had come to my old age?

From Tales from the Old French by Various

He will regenerate the race; he will ennoble humanity, without sparing one caitiff of them all; he will establish it on some perpetual mount of transfiguration; and all by the magic of stage effect.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 16, No. 95, September 1865 by Various