scapegrace

[ skeyp-greys ]

noun

1. a complete rogue or rascal; a habitually unscrupulous person; scamp.

scapegrace

/ ˈskeɪpˌɡreɪs /

noun

1. an idle mischievous person

Word History and Origins

Origin of scapegrace¹

First recorded in 1800–10; scape ² + grace

Word History and Origins

Origin of scapegrace¹

C19: from scape ² + grace , alluding to a person who lacks God's grace

Example Sentences

Now this younger son—I believe that he is in his twenty-first year at present—has been something of a scapegrace.

From Project Gutenberg

That scapegrace brother is the one of all that family most worthy your respect and mine.

From Project Gutenberg

His military service involved him in the wild pleasures and perils of scapegrace lads upon a foreign soil.

From Project Gutenberg

Yes they can, aunt, if she married a man whom she knew to be a scapegrace because he was very rich and an earl.

From Project Gutenberg

One winter a young scapegrace stole a sailboat from the wharf and put out to sea.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• rascal