SCOUNDRELS Synonyms: 79 Similar and Opposite Words

scoundrels

noun

plural of scoundrel

as in villains

a mean, evil, or unprincipled person some scoundrel stole my wallet

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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 scoundrels Giannis, a gentleman even in this era of scoundrels, likely wants to do right by the Bucks, too. — Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 3 Dec. 2025 Meanwhile, the nation’s financial titans, so admired during the boom years, were recast as villains and scoundrels. — Barbara Spindel, Christian Science Monitor, 21 Oct. 2025 Political leaders who encourage or tolerate such scoundrels should be driven from office. — Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 23 Feb. 2026 These twin influences, religious fervor and a preoccupation with dangerous men, would go on to define the next six decades of the director’s working life, finding expression as a conviction that even scoundrels are in possession of a soul. — Graham Hillard, The Washington Examiner, 31 Oct. 2025 Swashbucklers, scoundrels, bandits and buccaneers will soon be bellying up to the bar inside a lively new pirate pub at Walt Disney World that’s already booked solid for the first two months and promises to be a must-have reservation for visitors. — Brady MacDonald, Oc Register, 29 Aug. 2025 New Orleans has long been notorious for embracing such scoundrels, a reputation that isn’t exactly helped by the fact that, for many years, disgraced attorneys who lost their licenses in Louisiana and applied for readmission to the bar often got it. — Patrick Radden Keefe, New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for scoundrels

Noun

After all, the best myths take our normal heroes-and-villains binary and punt it into a million pieces.

— AJ Willingham, AJC.com, 6 July 2026
Maybe America was too busy wrestling with its own history of siding with the most despicable villains around?

— Bethy Squires, Vulture, 5 July 2026

Definition of villains

Noun

These brutes commonly exceed 50 pounds.

— Keith Sutton, Outdoor Life, 18 June 2026
In Raspail’s tale, hordes of impoverished and dark-skinned brutes from India descend onto French shores by way of rafts, the first wave of an invasion of the civilized West by the brown-skinned developing world.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 8 Apr. 2026

Definition of brutes

Noun

Supporters will argue that criminals should not be able to hide behind wallets.

— Susie Violet Ward, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
And just like Alito, some members of my family have forgotten our history and support Trump or favor some of his immigration policies, dismissing new arrivals as criminals or lazy.

— Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026

Definition of criminals

Browse Nearby Words

scoundrelly

scoundrels

scour

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“Scoundrels.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scoundrels. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of scoundrels

noun

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