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rascal. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
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English
Etymology
Recorded since c.1330, as Middle English rascaile (“people of the lowest class, rabble of an army”), derived from 12th century Old French rascaille (“outcast, rabble”) (modern French racaille), perhaps from rasque (“mud, filth, scab, dregs”), from Vulgar Latin *rasicō (“to scrape”). The singular form is first attested in 1461; the present extended sense of "low, dishonest person" is from early 1586.
Pronunciation
Noun
rascal (plural rascals)
- A dishonest person; a rogue, a scoundrel, a trickster.
1601, Ben Jonson, Poetaster or The Arraignment: , London: for M L , published 1602, →OCLC, Act III:Tuc[ca]. […] Can thy Author doe it impudently enough? / Hiſt[rio]. O, I warrant you, Captaine: and ſpitefully inough too; he ha's one of the moſt ouerflowing villanous wits, in Rome. He will ſlander any man that breathes; If he diſguſt him. / Tucca. I'le know the poor, egregious, nitty Raſcall; and he haue ſuch commendable Qualities, I'le cheriſh him: […]
- Sometimes diminutive: a cheeky person or creature; a troublemaker.
That little rascal bit me!
If you have deer in the area, you may have to put a fence around your garden to keep the rascals out.
- (Papua New Guinea) A member of a criminal gang.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
dishonest person
- Bulgarian: мошеник (bg) (mošenik)
- Catalan: brètol (ca) m, bandarra (ca) m or f
- Czech: lump (cs) m, darebák (cs) m, lotr (cs) m
- Esperanto: kanajlo (eo), fripono (eo)
- Finnish: kelmi (fi), ketku (fi)
- French: racaille (fr) f
- Galician: moinante (gl), zafado m
- German: Gauner (de) m, Strolch (de) m, Bösewicht (de) m, Schurke (de) m
- Hungarian: gazember (hu)
- Interlingua: scelerato, picaro
- Irish: alfraits f
- Latin: furcifer m, furcifera f, verberō m
- Malayalam: തെമ്മാടി (ml) (temmāṭi), നികൃഷ്ടൻ (ml) (nikr̥ṣṭaṉ)
- Maori: nanakia
- Ottoman Turkish: لوند (levend)
- Portuguese: pilantra (pt) m or f
- Slovak: darebák, darebáčka
- Spanish: pícaro (es) m, bribón (es) m
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cheeky person
- Arabic:
- Moroccan Arabic: مسخوط m (masḵūṭ)
- Burmese: ငတေ (my) (nga.te)
- Catalan: bordegàs (ca) m, bordegassa (ca) f
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 臭小孩兒/臭小孩儿 (chòu xiǎoháir), 小淘氣/小淘气 (zh) (xiǎotáoqì), 壞蛋/坏蛋 (zh) (huàidàn)
- Czech: rošťák m, uličník (cs) m, drzoun (cs) m, parchant (cs) m
- Dutch: bengel (nl) m, rakker (nl) m, rekel (nl) m, vlegel (nl) m, deugniet (nl), schoffie (nl) n, doerak (nl)
- Esperanto: kanajlo (eo), fripono (eo), bubaĉo
- Finnish: riiviö (fi), ilkiö (fi), hulivili, vintiö (fi), ilkimys
- French: canaille (fr) f, coquin (fr) m, crapule (fr) f, filou (fr) m, fripon (fr) m, fripouille (fr) f, gredin (fr) m, scélérat (fr) m
- Galician: pillabán (gl), pícaro, mangoleteiro (gl), renarte, guímaro m
- German: Bengel (de) m, Strolch (de) m, Schlingel (de) m, Frechdachs (de) m, Lümmel (de) m, Rabauke (de) m,Racker (de) m
- Alemannic German: Birbant m
- Greek: κατεργάρης (el) m (katergáris)
- Hindi: दुष्ट (hi) m (duṣṭ)
- Hungarian: csirkefogó (hu) (diminutive), csibész (hu) (diminutive)
- Indonesian: bajingan (id) (pejorative)
- Ingrian: vekale
- Irish: alfraits f, bithiúnach m
- Italian: briccone (it) m, canaglia (it) f, manigoldo (it) m
- Japanese: 野郎 (ja) (やろう, yarō)
- Latin: furcifer
- Macedonian: мангуп m (mangup)
- Malayalam: തെമ്മാടി (ml) (temmāṭi), പോക്കിരി (ml) (pōkkiri)
- Maori: nauhea, nauwhea, tainanakia
- Persian: قالتاق (fa) (qâltâq)
- Polish: łajdak (pl) m, łotr (pl) m, szubrawiec (pl) m, urwis (pl) m, łobuz (pl) m, łobuziak m, ancymon (pl) m, baciar (pl) m (regional)
- Portuguese: patife (pt) m, canalha (pt)
- Romanian: mișel (ro), ticălos (ro)
- Russian: него́дник (ru) m (negódnik), него́дница (ru) f (negódnica), плут (ru) m (plut), плуто́вка (ru) f (plutóvka), шельме́ц (ru) m (šelʹméc), ше́льма (ru) m or f (šélʹma)
- Scottish Gaelic: slaightear m
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: лу́пеж m
- Roman: lúpež (sh) m
- Slovak: šibal, nezbedník, nezbednica
- Sorbian:
- Upper Sorbian: worakawc (hsb) m
- Spanish: canalla (es)
- Swedish: lymmel (sv), rackare (sv), slyngel (sv)
- Walloon: calfurtî (wa) m, rénnvåt (wa) m
- Welsh: cenau (cy) m, gwalch m
- Yiddish: מזיק m (mazek)
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Translations to be checked
Adjective
rascal (comparative more rascal, superlative most rascal)
- (archaic) Low; lowly, part of or belonging to the common rabble.
Derived terms
Translations
part of the common rabble
Further reading
Anagrams