rascal
Americannoun
-
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.
Dizzee Rascal, who once defined the sound of grime with his Mercury Prize-winning debut Boy in da Corner, now made more commercial rap, with songs like Bonkers and Dance Wiv Me.
From BBC • Oct. 31, 2025
Dizzee Rascal, real name Dylan Kwabena Mills, was made an MBE for services to music in 2020.
From BBC • May 9, 2025
“Wow y’all! I can’t believe I actually got to sing with Rascal Flatts,” Kiker wrote on YouTube in May 2020.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 14, 2025
During pop singer Remi Wolf's set, for instance, she ran around the stage waving the Progress Pride Flag while singing a cover of the Rascal Flatts hit "Life is a Highway."
From Salon • Oct. 16, 2024
We went to the Rascal House for ice-cream sundaes after the show.
From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg
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.
