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miscreant

 [mis-kree-uhnt]   Example Sentences Origin

mis·cre·ant

   [mis-kree-uhnt]
adjective
1.
depraved, villainous, or base.
2.
Archaic. holding a false or unorthodox religious belief; heretical.
noun
3.
a vicious or depraved person; villain.
4.
Archaic. a heretic or infidel.

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Miscreant is an SAT word you need to know.
So is staid. Does it mean:
a means of connection; the core or center, as of a matter or situation
steady or sedate in character
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Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French mescreant unbelieving, equivalent to mes- mis-1 + creant ≪ Latin crēdent- credent
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Example Sentences
  • To the miscreants in my neighborhood: Turn your music down and get a job.
  • Occasionally, I turn and stare nastily at the miscreant.
  • This way miscreant nations must clean up their own act.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
miscreant (ˈmɪskrɪənt)
 
—n
1.  a wrongdoer or villain
2.  archaic an unbeliever or heretic
 
—adj
3.  evil or villainous
4.  archaic unbelieving or heretical
 
[C14: from Old French mescreant unbelieving, from mes-mis-1 + creant, ultimately from Latin credere to believe]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon
Main Entry:  miscreant1
Part of Speech:  adj
Definition:  disbelieving; heretical
Etymology:  Middle French mes- 'mis-' + croire 'to believe'
Main Entry:  miscreant1
Part of Speech:  n
Definition:  a disbeliever; heretic
Etymology:  Middle French mes- 'mis-' + croire 'to believe'
Main Entry:  miscreant2
Part of Speech:  adj
Definition:  depraved; behaving badly
Etymology:  Middle French mes- 'mis-' + croire 'to believe'
Main Entry:  miscreant2
Part of Speech:  n
Definition:  a scoundrel; reprobate
Etymology:  Middle French mes- 'mis-' + croire 'to believe'
Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon
Copyright © 2003-2012 Dictionary.com, LLC
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

miscreant
early 14c., "heretical, unbelieving, infidel," from O.Fr. mescreant, from mes- "wrongly" (see mis- (2)) + creant, prp. of creire "believe," from L. credere (see credit). The noun is attested from late 14c.; originally "heathen, Saracen;" sense of "villain" first recorded 1590 in Spenser.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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