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rapscallion

[rap-skal-yuh n]
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noun
  1. a rascal; rogue; scamp.
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Origin of rapscallion

1690–1700; earlier rascallion, based on rascal
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for rapscallion

Historical Examples

  • "We'll soon put an end to your coronets," said a rapscallion in the mob.

    Pencillings by the Way

    N. Parker Willis

  • That man come heah the firs day, an I knowed hes a rapscallion.

    The Ranchman

    Charles Alden Seltzer

  • Depend upon it, sir, unless the rapscallion rebels should catch and hang me up to one of the tall aiks o' the Chaudière.

    The Bastonnais

    John Lesperance

  • This thing (pointing to Drinkwater) is the greatest liar, thief, drunkard, and rapscallion on the west coast.

  • What a rapscallion crew, male and female, followed this great mob of gold seekers, and grew richer as their victims grew poorer!

British Dictionary definitions for rapscallion

rapscallion

noun
  1. a disreputable person; rascal or rogue
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Word Origin

C17: from earlier rascallion; see rascal
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for rapscallion

n.

1690s, alteration of rascallion (1640s), a fanciful elaboration of rascal (q.v.). It had a parallel in now-extinct rampallion (1590s), from Middle English ramp (n.2) "ill-behaved woman."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper