rogue
Americanadjective
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no longer obedient, belonging, or accepted and hence not controllable or answerable; renegade.
They described him as a rogue cop who had abandoned his training.
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dangerous and unpredictable.
They were trapped in the house by a rogue snowstorm.
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of or noting a nation or state that defies international treaties, laws, etc..
The blame is placed on rogue states that threaten world peace.
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(of an animal) having an abnormally violent or unpredictable disposition.
She helped trap a rogue tiger terrorizing the village.
noun
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rogues
plural
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a dishonest, untrustworthy person; scoundrel.
We were traveling in secret to avoid running into rogues and thieves.
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a playfully mischievous person; scamp.
The youngest boys are little rogues.
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Archaic. a tramp or vagabond.
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an animal having an abnormally violent or unpredictable disposition.
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Biology. a usually inferior organism, especially a plant, varying markedly from the normal.
verb (used with object)
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rogues,
present (3rd person singular)
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rogued,
past participle, past
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roguing
present participle
-
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to uproot or destroy (plants that do not conform to a desired standard).
Usually, roguing the diseased plants is sufficient to minimize further spread.
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to perform this operation upon.
to rogue a field.
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to cheat.
verb (used without object)
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rogues,
present (3rd person singular)
-
rogued,
past participle, past
-
roguing
present participle
idioms
noun
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a dishonest or unprincipled person, esp a man; rascal; scoundrel
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humorous a mischievous or wayward person, often a child; scamp
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a crop plant which is inferior, diseased, or of a different, unwanted variety
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any inferior or defective specimen
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( as modifier )
rogue heroin
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archaic a vagrant
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an animal of vicious character that has separated from the main herd and leads a solitary life
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( as modifier )
a rogue elephant
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verb
Synonym Usage
See knave.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
roguesimple
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roguessimple
-
have roguedperfect
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has roguedperfect
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am roguingprogressive
-
are roguingprogressive
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is roguingprogressive
-
have been roguingperfect progressive
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has been roguingperfect progressive
Past
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roguedsimple
-
had roguedperfect
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was roguingprogressive
-
were roguingprogressive
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had been roguingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of rogue
First recorded in 1555–65; origin uncertain, apparently short for obsolete roger “begging vagabond,” originally thieves' jargon
Explanation
A rogue is a sneaky person who has tricks up his sleeve, not like a magician, but like someone who would steal your wallet or cheat at cards. Dishonesty won’t get you far in life, unless you are a rogue who survives by lying and exploiting others. The word comes from the Latin rogare, which means “beg,” and while some rogues dress like beggars to get your money, anyone who deceives is a rogue, like the presidents of corrupt corporations who steal from their employees, or that rogue Uncle Marvin who promises you chocolate for washing his car, but afterward tells you he has no chocolate. That rogue!
Vocabulary lists containing rogue
May the 4th Be With You: Star Wars Words
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Superhero Lexicon
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"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, Act I
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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:
President Trump put North Korea and its rogue nuclear-weapons program back in the spotlight on Sunday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
It indicates a "systemic problem which transcends one rogue doctor and one rogue clinic", according to the British Fertility Society.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
In recent weeks, several highly powerful AI models hacked into websites, or as some put it, "went rogue".
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Recent high-profile instances of AI bots going rogue and carrying out cyberattacks have added to widespread anxieties that the development of the technology is moving too fast and without enough regulation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
“That devil Lincoln is soon to be riding the train through Baltimore,” began the baby-faced rogue who was kneeling on my costume.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
Affecting a tough-guy realism, Mr. Bockino is contemptuous of antigambling officials in the era before legalization and tolerant of the worst rogues.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The single star was painted in berry juice, as was the bear, which looked so porcine that Mexicans who were struggling to protect California from Yankee rogues mocked it as more pig than bear.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Nancy Dunnachie, 65, the widow of a former Morton's Rolls employee tells BBC Scotland: "He kept going on about how they were a 'shower of rogues'."
From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2025
The reverence I had unwittingly infiltrated a culture of rogues & thieves posing as police.
From Salon ● Jan. 31, 2023
“Braggarts and rogues, dogs and scoundrels, drive them out, Harry Potter, see them off!”
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
You will recall that the off-type trees were rogued, leaving the parent trees of Nanking, Kuling and Meiling and others of good bearing habits.
From Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the 43rd Annual Meeting Rockport, Indiana, August 25, 26 and 27, 1952 by Northern Nut Growers Association
Chapman says, on reading these letters and hearing all the case, that he never heard of any man being more shamefully treated,—that I have been outrageously rogued and robbed throughout.
From Charles Lever, His Life in His Letters, Vol. I by Edmund Downey
“And we’ve had our fun,” he boasted, “and speaking of sweethearts and all,” he cribbed from Kipling, “‘We’ve rogued and we’ve ranged - ’” “‘In our time,’” Slim completed the crib for him.
From The Red One by Jack London
I've rogued and I've ranged in my time, and The things that I learned from the yellow and black, They 'ave helped me a 'eap with the white.
From Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The practice enters into every hour of every-day life, and the greatest knave that ever rogued never cheated the world half as often as he cheated himself!
From Davenport Dunn, Volume 2 (of 2) A Man Of Our Day by Charles James Lever
Potato roguing brings together people from all over the world It is essential to be fit to become a roguer, though it is also important to know what to look for.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2012
For Maciej, a former Aberdeen University student, an offer to go seed potato "roguing" turned out to be the right opportunity.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2012
Whether the disease can be kept under control by repeated roguing is uncertain.
From Northern Nut Growers Association Incorporated 39th Annual Report at Norris, Tenn. September 13-15 1948 by Northern Nut Growers Association
The "roguing," as nurserymen call the destroying of varieties which depart from their type, is a kind of selection.
From Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society - Vol. 3 Zoology by Various
The "roguing," as nursery-men call the destroying of varieties, which depart from their type, is a kind of selection.
From Life and Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 1 by Sir Francis Darwin
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.
