rascal

C2 Topic:War & Conflict

US /ˈɹæskl̩/ UK /ˈɹɑːskl̩/ See IPA manual

Freq #5197

Meanings

1

noun
A dishonest person; a rogue, a scoundrel, a trickster.

Tuc[ca]. […] Can thy Author doe it impudently enough? / Hiſt[rio]. O, I warrant you, Captaine: and ſpitefully inough too; he ha's one of the moſt ouerflowing villanous wits, in Rome. He will ſlander any man that breathes; If he diſguſt him. / Tucca. I'le know the poor, egregious, nitty Raſcall; and he haue ſuch commendable Qualities, I'le cheriſh him: […].
2

noun
A cheeky person or creature; a troublemaker.

That little rascal bit me!
3

noun
one who is playfully mischievous
4

noun
a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a dishonest person; a... villain

2 noun · a cheeky person or... devil

3 noun · one who is playfully... monkey

4 noun · a deceitful and unreliable... knave

More impmischief-makerscamp scoundrel troublemaker

Word family

Derived forms berascalrascaldomrascalessrascalismrascalizerascallikerascalshipwraprascal

Etymology

Recorded since c.1330, as Middle English rascaile (“people of the lowest class, rabble of an army”), derived from 12th century Old French rascaille (“outcast, rabble”) (modern French racaille), perhaps from rasque (“mud, filth, scab, dregs”), from Vulgar Latin *rasicō (“to scrape”). The singular form is first attested in 1461; the present extended sense of "low, dishonest person" is from early 1586.

Topics

War & Conflict

External links

# rascal

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈɹæskl̩/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɹɑːskl̩/
**Frequency rank:** 5197

## Meanings
1. A dishonest person; a rogue, a scoundrel, a trickster.
2. A cheeky person or creature; a troublemaker.
3. one who is playfully mischievous
4. a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel

## Examples
- Tuc[ca]. […] Can thy Author doe it impudently enough? / Hiſt[rio]. O, I warrant you, Captaine: and ſpitefully inough too; he ha's one of the moſt ouerflowing villanous wits, in Rome. He will ſlander any man that breathes; If he diſguſt him. / Tucca. I'le know the poor, egregious, nitty Raſcall; and he haue ſuch commendable Qualities, I'le cheriſh him: […].
- That little rascal bit me!

## Synonyms
- imp
- mischief-maker
- scamp
- scoundrel
- troublemaker

## Derived Forms
- berascal
- rascaldom
- rascaless
- rascalism
- rascalize
- rascallike
- rascalship
- wraprascal

## Etymology
Recorded since c.1330, as Middle English rascaile (“people of the lowest class, rabble of an army”), derived from 12th century Old French rascaille (“outcast, rabble”) (modern French racaille), perhaps from rasque (“mud, filth, scab, dregs”), from Vulgar Latin *rasicō (“to scrape”). The singular form is first attested in 1461; the present extended sense of "low, dishonest person" is from early 1586.

## Topics
- War & Conflict

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