scalawag

1 of 2

noun (1)

scal·​a·​wag ˈska-li-ˌwag How to pronounce scalawag (audio)
variants or scallywag
Synonyms of scalawag
1
: scamp, reprobate
2
: a white Southerner acting in support of the reconstruction governments after the American Civil War often for private gain

scallywag

2 of 2

noun (2)

scal·​ly·​wag

variant spelling of scalawag

1
: scamp, reprobate
2
: a white Southerner acting in support of the reconstruction governments after the American Civil War often for private gain

Synonyms of scalawag

Relevance

Noun (1)

See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of scalawag in a Sentence

Noun (1) a scalawag who had taken to begging on street corners while posing as a blind person
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Noun
The large cast, costumed and made up as a fitly scalawags and sinister buccaneers, gives tremendous energy to every scene. — Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 July 2023 Chadha-Patel is ambiguously charming as a scalawag not entirely out for himself. — cleveland, 1 Dec. 2022 And yet, after a series of further downward spirals that will dig this scalawag even deeper into a hole and some supernatural mumbo-jumbo, his luck curiously starts to change…. — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 14 Oct. 2025 Among the most memorable was the Oyster Wars, a series of clashes dating back to the 1830s with scalawags descending from all over, looking to cash in on the valuable bivalves. — Baltimore Sun Editorial Board, Baltimore Sun, 2 July 2024 But what the New Yorker writer left behind is some of the finest prose of the 20th century, focusing primarily on the eccentrics, scalawags, seamen, and other denizens of New York’s dank corners. — Air Mail, 2 May 2026
Noun
Soon, she and her fellow scallywags are enlisted in Kahlen’s cause as well. — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 1 Feb. 2024 Ticketed experiences include a cannon battle aboard a tall ship, tours of the tall ships in port, a mermaid meet-and-greet and swim show, pirate school for scallywags and more. — Marla Jo Fisher, Oc Register, 8 Sep. 2025 Giddy gratification and gory glimpses of the ocean predators are plentiful this year, as is some frightening and fascinating footage of the summer season’s seminal scallywag. — Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 20 July 2025 In the 2005 and 2007 Fantastic Four movies, for instance, Chris Evans played the character as a skirt-chasing scallywag. — EW.com, 10 Apr. 2025 Suddenly, hundreds of strangers were responding to her tweets—Smith-Cameron is very active on Twitter—with effusive commentary about her onscreen flirtations with the much younger Roman Roy, the horny scallywag played by Kieran Culkin. — Rachel Syme, The New Yorker, 15 Nov. 2021

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

origin unknown

First Known Use

Noun (1)

circa 1848, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of scalawag was circa 1848

Rhymes for scalawag

See All Rhymes for scalawag

Browse Nearby Words

scalation
scalawag
scalawaggery
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Scalawag.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scalawag. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

scalawag

noun
scal·​a·​wag
variants or scallywag
ˈskal-i-ˌwag
1
: rascal sense 2
2
: a white Southerner acting in support of the reconstruction governments after the American Civil War often for private gain

More from Merriam-Webster on scalawag

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about scalawag

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All