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Scofflaw Was Created for a Contest
In 1924, a wealthy Massachusetts Prohibitionist named Delcevare King sponsored a contest in which he asked participants to coin an appropriate word to mean "a lawless drinker." King sought a word that would cast violators of Prohibition laws in a light of shame. Two respondents came up independently with the winning word: scofflaw, formed by combining the verb scoff and the noun law. Henry Dale and Kate Butler, also of Massachusetts, split King’s $200 prize. Improbably, despite some early scoffing from language critics, scofflaw managed to pick up steam in English and expand to a meaning that went beyond its Prohibition roots, referring to one who violates any law, not just laws related to drinking.
Examples of scofflaw in a Sentence
Devan Patel, Mercury News, 10 Mar. 2026
The Miami resident said fellow travelers in his area are terrible sound scofflaws.
—Hannah Sampson The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 8 Mar. 2026
But what about those scofflaws who will game the system and walk?
—U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Feb. 2026
The group called on the city to collect the current tax from parking lot scofflaws.
—Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 24 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for scofflaw
Cite this Entry
“Scofflaw.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scofflaw. Accessed 21 Mar. 2026.
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