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rogue

[rohg]
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noun
  1. a dishonest, knavish person; scoundrel.
  2. a playfully mischievous person; scamp: The youngest boys are little rogues.
  3. a tramp or vagabond.
  4. a rogue elephant or other animal of similar disposition.
  5. Biology. a usually inferior organism, especially a plant, varying markedly from the normal.
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verb (used without object), rogued, ro·guing.
  1. to live or act as a rogue.
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verb (used with object), rogued, ro·guing.
  1. to cheat.
  2. to uproot or destroy (plants, etc., that do not conform to a desired standard).
  3. to perform this operation upon: to rogue a field.
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adjective
  1. (of an animal) having an abnormally savage or unpredictable disposition, as a rogue elephant.
  2. no longer obedient, belonging, or accepted and hence not controllable or answerable; renegade: a rogue cop; a rogue union local.
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Origin of rogue

First recorded in 1555–65; apparently short for obsolete roger begging vagabond, orig. cant word
Related formsout·rogue, verb (used with object), out·rogued, out·ro·guing.un·der·rogue, noun
Can be confusedrogue rouge

Synonyms

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1. villain, trickster, swindler, cheat, mountebank, quack. See knave.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

crookswindlerrascalvillainmiscreantcheatmonstrositydevilcriminalscoundrelreprobatemischiefhooliganscalawagblackguardfraudtricksteroutlawcheaterscamp

Examples from the Web for rogue

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • There never was a rogue, who had not a salvo to himself for being so.

    Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)

    Samuel Richardson

  • We were much provoked at the insult of playing the Rogue's March.

    Ned Myers

    James Fenimore Cooper

  • And all that's in it for me is this—the schoolmaster was a rogue that did not give me that verse in for my money.

  • Where has your conscience been these two months back, you villain and rogue?

    Micah Clarke

    Arthur Conan Doyle

  • There was not a rogue or a rascal inside its whole precincts.

    Bunyan

    James Anthony Froude

British Dictionary definitions for rogue

rogue

noun
  1. a dishonest or unprincipled person, esp a man; rascal; scoundrel
  2. often jocular a mischievous or wayward person, often a child; scamp
  3. a crop plant which is inferior, diseased, or of a different, unwanted variety
    1. any inferior or defective specimen
    2. (as modifier)rogue heroin
  5. archaic a vagrant
    1. an animal of vicious character that has separated from the main herd and leads a solitary life
    2. (as modifier)a rogue elephant
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verb
    1. (tr)to rid (a field or crop) of plants that are inferior, diseased, or of an unwanted variety
    2. to identify and remove such plants
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Word Origin

C16: of unknown origin; perhaps related to Latin rogāre to beg
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 rogue

n.

1560s, "idle vagrant," perhaps a shortened form of roger (with a hard -g-), thieves' slang for a begging vagabond who pretends to be a poor scholar from Oxford or Cambridge, which is perhaps an agent noun in English from Latin rogare "to ask." Another theory [Klein] traces it to Celtic (cf. Breton rog "haughty"); OED says, "There is no evidence of connexion with F. rogue 'arrogant.' "

In playful or affectionate use, "one who is mischievous," 1590s. Meaning "large wild beast living apart from the herd" is from 1859, originally of elephants. Meaning "something uncontrolled or undisciplined" is from 1964. Also common in 17c. as a verb. Rogue's gallery "police collection of mug shots" is attested from 1859.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper