Meanings
plural scallywags · alternative scalawag · alternative scalliwag
- UKdatedderogatoryA disreputable fellow, a good-for-nothing, a scapegrace, a blackguard
- UKinformalA badly behaved person, especially a child; a mischief-maker; a rascal
But Maore, a cheerful scallywag with a taste for the limelight, was made of more daring stuff.
2009, Michela Wrong, It’s Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistle Blower
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna white Southerner who supported Reconstruction policies after the American Civil War (usually for self-interest)
nouna deceitful and unreliable scoundrel
nounone who is playfully mischievous
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Cite this entry
scallywag. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scallywag
“scallywag.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scallywag. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “scallywag,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scallywag.
Source: scallywag on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.