knave

noun

ˈnāv How to pronounce knave (audio)
Definition of knavenext
as in villain
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person he plays the role of the duplicitous knave who tries to foil the play's hero

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of knave Today, all too many of us risk becoming the prey of political tricksters and knaves. — Literary Hub, 14 Oct. 2026 The knights who always told the truth and the knaves who always lied. — Quanta Magazine, 20 Aug. 2026 Try for yourselves, ye witless knaves— Take each to bed your Sally! — Ann Manov, Harpers Magazine, 23 June 2026 Many a knave is rich, sleek, and honored, while the just man is poor, hated, and in torment. — Sara Tenenbaum, CBS News, 18 June 2026 Human beings are motivated by virtue (knights) or rigid self-interest (knaves), or are passive victims of their circumstances (pawns). — Sachin H. Jain, Forbes, 20 Dec. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for knave
  1. villain
  2. brute
  3. devil
  4. monster
  5. savage
  6. scoundrel
Noun
  • Still, this villain’s origin story works better as a showcase for effects than anything tragic.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Directed by Grammy Award-winning filmmaker James Mackel, the visual is three-and-a-half minutes of spy stuff, our hero, dressed to impress, making short work of the many villains who lurk in her hotel.
    — Lars Brandle, Billboard, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of villain
Noun
  • Most sportsmen wonder how any whitetail bucks, let alone a brute such as Kontras’, could have been so easily patterned.
    — Jeff Murray, Outdoor Life, 20 Aug. 2026
  • The show’s depiction of Hugh as a family man has been much more sympathetic than the book’s description of him as a power-hungry brute.
    — James Grebey, Vulture, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of brute
Noun
  • In Jennifer’s Body, Needy (Seyfried) is BFFs with the titular mean girl played by Fox, whose body becomes possessed by a succubus with a taste for teen boys after a botched sacrifice by a devil-worshipping boy band (led by Adam Brody).
    — Glenn Garner, Deadline, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Behave yourself, buddy, or the little red devil will take you away!
    — Sanat Pai Raikar, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of devil
Noun
  • At last untethered from merely adapting a standard comfy passenger vehicle, the AMG engineers have created a monster.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Set on a mysterious island ravaged by floods and warring armies, a masked boy and girl must traverse atmospheric environments, rescue friends, and confront nightmarish monsters.
    — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of monster
Noun
  • And mostly, the comedian known for his savage takedowns and viral beefs is keeping his cool.
    — Timothy Bella, HollywoodReporter, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Among the English-speaking settlers, the events at Lake George would be remembered as a massacre, and the Indigenous people whose home this was, whose conventions of war did not match those of the European empires, were called savages.
    — James Whorton Jr, Longreads, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of savage
Noun
  • There’s been bestselling books, podcasts, an Alex Gibney documentary, and an Emmy-winning series featuring Amanda Seyfried as the Silicon Valley scoundrel.
    — Brent Lang, IndieWire, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Meanwhile, Frank Dillane plays Willoughby, Marianne’s love interest, with such commitment that the actor was surprised to learn his character is universally acknowledged to be a scoundrel.
    — Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of scoundrel

Browse Nearby Words

knapsacks
knave
knaveries
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Cite this Entry

“Knave.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/knave. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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