skellum

S1K5E1L1L1U1M3

noun

A scoundrel.

OriginDanish skælm →
Scrabble 13
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Meanings

skellum1

nounskellum (plural skellums)

plural skellums

  1. UKobsoleteA scoundrel.

    Dr. Creeton, [Robert Creighton] the Scotchman, […] ripped up Hugh Peters (calling him the execrable skellum), his preaching and stirring up the maids of the city to bring in their bodkins and thimbles.

    1663 April 3, Samuel Pepys, Diary
    1 more example

    O Tam! had'st thou but been sae wise, As taen thy ain wife Kate's advice! She tauld thee weel thou was a skellum, A blethering, blustering, drunken blellum; That frae November till October, Ae market-day thou was na sober.

    1791, Robert Burns, Tam O' Shanter, lines 17–22

skellum2

nounskellum (plural skellums)

plural skellums

  1. South AfricaA rogue.

Origin

skellum · noun

  1. Danishskælm
  2. Englishskellum

From Danish skælm, from Middle Low German; cognate to German Schelm.

More words from Danish

Full word history & related roots →

skellum · noun

  1. GermanSchelm
  2. Afrikaansskelm
  3. Englishskellum

From Afrikaans skelm, from German Schelm or Middle Low German; cognate to etymology 1.

More words from Afrikaans, German

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with skellum

vellumcerebellumantebellumflagellumscutellumAbelamarchicerebellumcapitellumcerebrocerebellumclitellumflabellumhaustellumlabellumneocerebellumpaleocerebellumpostbellumrostellumspinocerebellumstatus quo ante bellumvestibulocerebellum
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

skellum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skellum

MLA

“skellum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skellum. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “skellum,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skellum.

Source: skellum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.