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
Related Words
See knave.
Other Word Forms
- rascallike adjective
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.
The question Mr. Junod explores is whether his father was a scoundrel or merely a rascal.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026
You don’t need to have Luna sport a mustache, though, to see in his rascal of a character hints of revolutionary icons from Latin America.
From Los Angeles Times • May 16, 2025
Onstage, Epps convincingly plays that rascal who has charmed his way out of trouble.
From New York Times • Feb. 20, 2024
If a man is called a zorra, it simply means "rascal".
From BBC • Feb. 7, 2024
The clever little rascal who had looked her in the eye and said, “But I really didn’t have a frindle with me—” that boy wasn’t in her class anymore.
From "Frindle" by Andrew Clements
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.
