rogue

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A scoundrel, rascal or unprincipled, deceitful, and unreliable person.

   And meet time it was, when yon usher, vinegar-faced rogue that he is, began to inquire what popish trangam you were wearing […].

2. 2
   noun

   A mischievous scamp.

   Ah, you sweet little rogue, you!

3. 3
   noun

   Malware that deceitfully presents itself as antispyware.

   An entry in the Microsoft Malware Protection Center's Threat Research & Response Blog shows that rogue AV, also known as scareware, is ruling the malware roost, as 6 top of the 10 malicious programs removed by the MSRT (Malicious Software Removal Tool) in the US in October were 'rogues'.

4. 4
   noun

   An aggressive animal separate from the herd, especially an elephant.

   If he is a rogue, and there's any truth to territoriality at all, we got a good chance of spotting him between Cape Scott and South Beach.

Common collocations

• rogue elephant Adjective + noun
• rogue nation Noun + noun

Uncertain. From either: * Earlier English roger (“a begging vagabond who pretends to be a poor scholar from Oxford or Cambridge”), possibly from Latin rogō (“to ask”). * Middle French rogue (“arrogant, haughty”), from Old Northern French rogre (“aggressive”), from Old Norse hrokr (“excess, exuberance”), for which see Icelandic hroki (“arrogance”), though OED does not document this. * Celtic; see Breton rog (“haughty”).

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images