scoundrel
SYLLABICATION: scoun·drel
PRONUNCIATION: skoun' drəl
NOUN: A villain; a rogue.
ETYMOLOGY: Origin unknown.
OTHER FORMS: scoundrel·ly —ADJECTIVE
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary:Quick definitions (scoundrel)
noun: a wicked or evil person; someone who does evil deliberately
Usage:scoundrel
1589, skowndrell, of unknown origin. One suggestion is Anglo-Fr. escoundre (O.Fr. escondre) "to hide, hide oneself," from V.L. *excondere, from L. condere "to hide" (see abscond), The main objection to this theory is that hundreds of years lie between the two words.
"Zounds! That scoundrel of a saleman left the company and took all our clients with him!"
"Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure that there is one less scoundrel in the world."
- Thomas Carlyle