1
as in monkey
an appealingly mischievous person
those little scamps are always getting into trouble, but no one has the heart to punish them
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in villain
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person
an insincere and ruthlessly ambitious scamp who was willing to do anything to win the reality show's grand prize
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to botch
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of scamp
Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 6 Aug. 2025
Krypto is, above all, a little scamp, a characterization that Gunn leans on as Krypto playfully roughhouses with Supes in his new film.
—Daniel Dockery, Vulture, 11 July 2025
Elle Carroll, Vulture, 6 Dec. 2021
Sunshine scamps: The Florida Project is a delighful, poignant, dark-and-light movie about kids living on the seedy side of Disney.
—Rebecca Onion, Slate Magazine, 6 Oct. 2017
See All Example Sentences for scamp
Noun
Season 2 brings viewers back to Nevermore Academy, the gothic high school for supernatural scamps that Wednesday enrolled in last time around, and subsequently helped save from Season 1 villains Tyler (Hunter Doohan) and Marilyn Thornhill (Christina Ricci, a one-time Wednesday herself).
—Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 6 Aug. 2025
Krypto is, above all, a little scamp, a characterization that Gunn leans on as Krypto playfully roughhouses with Supes in his new film.
—Daniel Dockery, Vulture, 11 July 2025
Verb
While its individual characters feel largely interchangeable, the movie hums with life and pleasure when Borowczyk lets his nuns twirl around the chapel in a painterly tableau and scamp through the convent.
—Elle Carroll, Vulture, 6 Dec. 2021
Sunshine scamps: The Florida Project is a delighful, poignant, dark-and-light movie about kids living on the seedy side of Disney.
—Rebecca Onion, Slate Magazine, 6 Oct. 2017
See All Example Sentences for scamp
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scamp
Noun
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And the desk chairs weave a story of Nevis, adorned with nods to its lush flora and playful green vervet monkeys, the iconic ambassadors of the island.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
15 Feb. 2026
-
Imagery illustrating Black people as apes, monkeys and other primates has long been considered racist in America.—
Kathryn Palmer,
USA Today,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
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As the now-45-year-old driver was announced at each racetrack in 2025, Hamlin, after years of embracing the role of villain in a sport in desperate need of one, had a heel-turn to the light.—
Alex Zietlow,
Charlotte Observer,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Built into an old limestone quarry, the winery felt like a Bond villain’s secret lair—sleek, subterranean, and wildly impressive.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Several cool props gestured to historical infrastructural neglect and botched Hurricane Maria recovery efforts.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Darnold, of course, is the great what-might-have-been for Jets fans, who watched helplessly as their team botched its oversight of the third overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
To play devil’s advocate, Rodriguez has exhausted a lot of patience (there’s a funny quote in Felipe Cardenas’ analysis about his physical stats).—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
6 Feb. 2026
-
Among the fastest-growing indoor plants is golden pathos or devil’s ivy (Epipremnum aureum).—
Joshua Siskin,
Oc Register,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
For much of his career, Skarsgård has gravitated toward characters who weaponize physical presence — Vikings, tech titans and mythic brutes whose power is immediately legible.—
Clayton Davis,
Variety,
9 Jan. 2026
-
As usual, Lang plays the brute’s Heart of Darkness–esque descent into madness with gleeful relish.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
19 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
Chapek bungled the fallout, and as Disney’s business got hammered by the pandemic, the board ultimately brought Iger back in to steady the ship.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
4 Feb. 2026
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With an 11-0 start for the first time since the 1990s, the Aggies bungled the last two games of the season losing to Texas in Rivalry Week and Miami in the first round of the College Football Playoffs.—
Zoe Collins Rath,
Austin American Statesman,
22 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Of all the former rascals, Symoné has enjoyed the longest and most successful career in entertainment.—
Andrew Walsh,
Entertainment Weekly,
30 Jan. 2026
-
Sonny’s obituary had racked up more than 1,800 reactions and comments as of Thursday, Jan. 29, many from people thanking the community for embracing such a rascal.—
Mark Price
January 29,
Charlotte Observer,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The couple has clearly created a monster.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Feb. 2026
-
Or a family battling an evil monster.—
Clare Mulroy,
USA Today,
13 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Scamp.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scamp. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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