Adjacent Words

Rascal definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

RAS'CAL, n.
A mean fellow; a scoundrel; in modern usage, a trickish dishonest fellow; a rogue; particularly applied to men and boys guilty of the lesser crimes, and indicating less enormity or guilt than villain.
I have sense to serve my turn in store, and he's a rascal who pretends to more.
RAS'CAL, a.
1. Lean; as a rascal deer.
2. Mean; low.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel [syn: rogue, knave, rascal, rapscallion, scalawag, scallywag, varlet]
2: one who is playfully mischievous [syn: imp, scamp, monkey, rascal, rapscallion, scalawag, scallywag]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English rascaile foot soldiers, commoners, worthless person, from Anglo-French rascaille, from Old French dialect (Norman & Picard) *rasquer to scrape, clean off, from Vulgar Latin *rasicare Date: 15th century 1. a mean, unprincipled, or dishonest person 2. a mischievous person or animal • rascal adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. often joc. a dishonest or mischievous person, esp. a child. Derivatives: rascaldom n. rascalism n. rascality n. (pl. -ies). rascally adj. Etymology: ME f. OF rascaille rabble, prob. ult. f. L radere ras- scrape

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Rascal Ras`cal, a. Of or pertaining to the common herd or common people; low; mean; base. ``The rascal many.'' --Spencer. ``The rascal people.'' --Shak. While she called me rascal fiddler. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Rascal Ras"cal, n. [OE. rascaille rabble, probably from an OF. racaille, F. racaille the rabble, rubbish, probably akin to F. racler to scrape, (assumed) LL. rasiculare, rasicare, fr. L. radere, rasum. See Rase, v.] 1. One of the rabble; a low, common sort of person or creature; collectively, the rabble; the common herd; also, a lean, ill-conditioned beast, esp. a deer. [Obs.] He smote of the people seventy men, and fifty thousand of the rascal. --Wyclif (1 Kings [1 Samuel] vi. 19). Poor men alone? No, no; the noblest deer hath them [horns] as huge as the rascal. --Shak. 2. A mean, trickish fellow; a base, dishonest person; a rogue; a scoundrel; a trickster. For I have sense to serve my turn in store, And he's a rascal who pretends to more. --Dryden.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(rascals) If you call a man or child a rascal, you mean that they behave badly and are rude or dishonest. (OLD-FASHIONED) What's that old rascal been telling you? N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. Knave, rogue, villain, scoundrel, scapegrace, caitiff, scamp, miscreant, mean wretch. II. a. Mean, low, pitiful, paltry, base.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A rogue or villain: a term borrowed from the chase; a rascal originally meaning a lean shabby deer, at the time of changing his horns, penis, etc. whence, in the vulgar acceptation, rascal is conceived to signify a man without genitals: the regular vulgar answer to this reproach, if uttered by a woman, is the offer of an ocular demonstration of the virility of the party so defamed. Some derive it from RASCAGLIONE, an Italian word signifying a man. without testicles, or an eunuch.

Moby Thesaurus

bad boy, bastard, blackguard, blighter, booger, bounder, buffoon, bugger, cad, cutup, dastard, devil, elf, enfant terrible, funmaker, good-for-nothing, heel, hood, hoodlum, hooligan, imp, joker, jokester, knave, little devil, little monkey, little rascal, lowlife, minx, mischief, mischief-maker, miscreant, pixie, practical joker, prankster, precious rascal, puck, rapscallion, rogue, rotter, rowdy, ruffian, scalawag, scamp, scapegrace, scoundrel, shyster, sneak, spalpeen, villain, wag, wastrel, wretch