scoun·drel

[skoun-druhl]
noun
1.
an unprincipled, dishonorable person; villain.
adjective
2.
mean or base in nature; villainous; unprincipled; dishonorable.

Origin:
1580–90; origin uncertain


1. scamp, rapscallion, miscreant. See knave.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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World English Dictionary
scoundrel (ˈskaʊndrəl) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
a worthless or villainous person
 
[C16: of unknown origin]
 
'scoundrelly
 
adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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00:10
Scoundrel is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

scoundrel
1589, skowndrell, of unknown origin. One suggestion is Anglo-Fr. escoundre (O.Fr. escondre) "to hide, hide oneself," from V.L. *excondere, from L. condere "to hide" (see abscond), The main objection to this theory is that hundreds of years lie between the two words.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
Steal a dollar, and get thrown behind bars as a scoundrel.
There's something ancient and real about it, and in a scoundrel's sort of way there's something honest, too.
Some local scoundrel had called the animal extermination league or something, and they vanished.
Lobo tears the villain's clothes to shreds, and eventually causes the wolves to give chase to this scoundrel.
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