rascal

noun

ras·​cal ˈra-skəl 

1

: a mean, unprincipled, or dishonest person

2

: a mischievous person or animal

rascal adjective

Synonyms

• devil
• hellion
• imp
• mischief
• monkey
• rapscallion
• rogue
• scamp
• urchin

Examples of rascal in a Sentence

Which one of you rascals woke me up?

Recent Examples on the Web

Reynolds thrived in front of a live studio audience, playing a college-age rascal who was more interested in messing with his friends and pursuing harebrained schemes than deciding on a major. —Jesse David Fox, Vulture, 2 Aug. 2024

The druid Merlin rears his ugly head, and is far from the affable rascal of T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, though the two books are both attempts to update Arthur’s legend for a contemporary audience. —Erik Kain, Forbes, 10 Oct. 2024

The video features black & white footage of group of little rascals getting up to no good in the most adorable ways possible. —Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 20 Sep. 2024

The movie has become a bona fide classic, thanks partly to cameos by entertainment veterans like Mel Brooks, Daryl Hannah and Reba McEntire, but mainly for the hilarious child actors who portrayed the rascals. —Keith Langston, Peoplemag, 5 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English rascaile, rascaille, borrowed from Anglo-French rascaille, rascail "rabble," from rasc- (perhaps from Old French —Norman and Picard— *rasquer "to scratch, scrape," going back to Vulgar Latin *rāsicāre) + -aille, collective suffix, going back to Latin -ālia — more at rash entry 1, -al entry 2

Note: Though this etymology works semantically (cf., for example, the sense development of English scum, Russian svoloč'), it is unclear if *rasquer is a possible outcome of *rāsicāre in Norman/Picard. Note that the word is exclusively Anglo-Norman in earlier Medieval French (from the twelfth century), from which it appears to have penetrated into other dialects (see Französisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, vol. 10, pp. 88-89).

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

rascal

noun

ras·​cal ˈras-kəl 

1

: a mean or dishonest person

2

: a mischievous person