scoundrel
part of speech
noun (a scoundrel, scoundrels — old-fashioned)
meaning for a pupil
(old-fashioned) A wicked, dishonest person who cheats or does bad things to others. tree →
sense in the lessons
A villain word in older stories, plays and cartoons: «You scoundrel!» In The Wind in the Willows the weasels and stoats who seize Toad Hall are called villains and scoundrels; when Toad steals the car, the magistrate calls him an incorrigible rogue and a hardened ruffian.
examples
- «You scoundrel!» shouted the captain. tree →
- The scoundrel stole the old lady's purse. tree →
- The weasels were a gang of scoundrels. tree →
- The story is about a scoundrel who cheats a whole town. tree →
- He was a charming scoundrel. tree →
- The scoundrel ran off with the money. tree →
- “G-g-gone?” cried the herdsman. “Scoundrel, you lie!” tree →
note
Old-fashioned: today people say «crook», «villain» or «rogue». It is an insult, but not a swear word.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «scoundrel» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.