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Another word for wayward ones. Someone once used this word when describing some previous business associates to me.

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.

OneLook:

Quick definitions (scoundrel)

noun: a wicked or evil person; someone who does evil deliberately

Online Etymology Dictionary:

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.

Usage:

"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

Suggested previously here: http://www.alphadictionary.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=256 , but never taken up.

In the commentary to the first proposal the words rapscallion and scalawag are mentioned as being along the same lines. While I agree they are not necessarily adjectives of approval, they can actually be used as terms of endearment, especially toward a young child. A scoundrel leaves them in the dust, as far as bad behavior goes. Nasty little bugger, that one. Often devilishly hard to catch, too.