rascal
Americannoun
-
rascals
plural
-
a base, dishonest, or unscrupulous person.
- Synonyms:
- scapegrace, miscreant, villain, scamp, rapscallion
-
a mischievous person or animal.
That child is a real rascal.
noun
-
a disreputable person; villain
-
a mischievous or impish rogue
-
an affectionate or mildly reproving term for a child or old man
you little rascal
the wicked old rascal kissed her
-
obsolete a person of lowly birth
adjective
Synonym Usage
See knave.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of rascal
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English rascaile, raskaille, from Old French rascaille “rabble”; perhaps akin to rash 2
Explanation
A rascal is a scoundrel or a trickster. If your new puppy cheerfully chews on your shoes and chases the cat, you might want to consider naming her Rascal. Rascals are mischievous, but their intentions are to have fun, rather than to be cruel. An armed robber is not a rascal, but the class clown is a rascal. The word's origins had a more negative connotation, though: the fourteenth century rascaile meant "low class people," from the Old French rascaille, "rabble or mob."
Vocabulary lists containing rascal
Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 3
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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
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"Abuela Invents the Zero" and "Karate"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The question Mr. Junod explores is whether his father was a scoundrel or merely a rascal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026
Mozart, however, isn’t merely a puerile rascal, as his relationship with Lauren Worsham’s Constanze reveals.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2026
While Shoyo is a charismatic and ambitious rascal, Karasuno High and their various opponents provide a wide and varied array of winning characters who are willing to play the long game to win your heart.
From Salon ● Dec. 26, 2025
Onstage, Epps convincingly plays that rascal who has charmed his way out of trouble.
From New York Times ● Feb. 20, 2024
He suspected now that he had fallen in with a rascal, and he thought uncomfortably that he had brought only a little money with him.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
The most notable stock-market research over the weekend comes from academia, where researchers studied those rascals in Congress and their proclivity to trade.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 1, 2025
Dare we say, some rascals even made fun of her over it.
From Slate ● May 1, 2025
She added: “So it was less like, ‘I want to go do this big movie,’ and more, ‘I want to play in the sand pit with these rascals.’
From New York Times ● Jul. 3, 2023
This one, a collection of his New Yorker pieces about criminals and rascals, sounds irresistible.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 31, 2021
“Cuddle your cats and get over your headache, Bethy. Goodbye, Marmee. We are a set of rascals this morning, but we’ll come home regular angels. Now then, Meg!”
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
