scamp

[skamp]

noun

1. an unscrupulous and often mischievous person; rascal; rogue; scalawag.

2. a playful, mischievous, or naughty young person; upstart.

3. a grouper, Mycteroperca phenax, of Florida: so called from its habit of stealing bait.

verb (used with object)

1. to do or perform in a hasty or careless manner.

   to scamp work.

scamp

¹

/ skæmp /

noun

1. an idle mischievous person; rascal

2. a mischievous child

scamp

²

/ skæmp /

verb

1. a less common word for skimp

Other Word Forms

• scamper noun
• scampingly adverb
• scampish adjective
• scampishly adverb
• scampishness noun
• unscamped adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of scamp¹

1775–85; obsolete scamp to travel about idly or for mischief, perhaps < obsolete Dutch schampen to be gone < Old French escamper to decamp

Word History and Origins

Origin of scamp¹

C18: from scamp (vb) to be a highway robber, probably from Middle Dutch schampen to decamp, from Old French escamper, from es- _ex- ¹ + -camper, from Latin campus field

Example Sentences

Sonny is the closest he’s come to circling back around to his breakout role in “Thelma & Louise” as a charismatic cowboy scamp.

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For adult readers and viewers, he’s a comical scamp; to a kid, he’s an ideal.

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He cultivated a reputation as a beloved scamp who did what he wanted.

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To the end, he treats Bankman-Fried as sort of an endearing scamp who got in over his head, essentially by an adorable habit of inattention.

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Hopefully, Joshua watched “The Mandalorian” when he was young, because this little scamp is going to try his patience, or, you know, annihilate existence as we know it.

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