scamp

[skamp]

See more synonyms for scamp on Thesaurus.com

noun

an unscrupulous and often mischievous person; rascal; rogue; scalawag.
a playful, mischievous, or naughty young person; upstart.
a grouper, Mycteroperca phenax, of Florida: so called from its habit of stealing bait.

verb (used with object)

to do or perform in a hasty or careless manner: to scamp work.

Origin of scamp

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

Related formsscamp·er, nounscamp·ing·ly, adverbscamp·ish, adjectivescamp·ish·ly, adverbscamp·ish·ness, nounun·scamped, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for scamp

liar, cheat, ruffian, villain, troublemaker, delinquent, mischief-maker, scoundrel, reprobate, hooligan, sneak, rogue, scalawag, shyster, fraud, trickster, rowdy, swindler, cheater, prankster

Examples from the Web for scamp

Contemporary Examples of scamp

Fortnum is well behaved, but Mason appears to be a little more of a scamp.
Penis Beakers and Constipated Dolls: What Mothers REALLY Want To Know
Tom Sykes
October 11, 2013

Historical Examples of scamp

Go to your bedroom; and if you turn out a good-for-nothing and a scamp, it is no fault of mine.
Rico and Wiseli
Johanna Spyri
I was a scamp—but a frolicsome scamp—and that is always a popular character.
Night and Morning, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
She could only trust to his being a scamp as her only hope of escape.
Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXII No. 4, April 1848
Various
He ought to have played the scamp; he should have acted in concert with the Rougons.
The Fortune of the Rougons
Emile Zola
"I'm looking for that scamp of a Marjolin," replied the artist.
The Fat and the Thin
Emile Zola

British Dictionary definitions for scamp

scamp

noun

an idle mischievous person; rascal
a mischievous child

Derived Formsscampish, adjective

Word Origin for scamp

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

scamp

verb

a less common word for skimp

Derived Formsscamper, noun

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 scamp

1782, "highway robber," probably from dialectal verb scamp "to roam" (1753, perhaps from 16c.), shortened from scamper. Used affectionately in sense "rascal" since 1808.

"do in a hasty manner," 1837, perhaps from a Scandinavian source (cf. Old Norse skemma "to shorten, make shorter," from skammr "short; brief; lately"), or a blend of scant and skimp [Klein], or a back-formation from scamper. Related: Scamped; scamping.