miscreant
miscreant Lexical Profile
miscreant Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A person who behaves badly, breaks the law, or commits a wrongful act.
"Local authorities reviewed security footage to identify the miscreants who vandalized the park pavilion."
A person who holds false religious beliefs or rejects established doctrine; a heretic or unbeliever (archaic).
"In the play's historical setting, the inquisitor vowed to root out every suspected miscreant in the province."
• adjective
Behaving badly, unlawfully, or in a way that breaks rules and moral standards.
"The school board took swift disciplinary action to address the student's miscreant behavior."
Holding false or unorthodox religious beliefs; heretical (archaic).
"Medieval chroniclers routinely condemned the region's rulers as miscreant princes."
Word Nuance & Usage
While 'miscreant' originally denoted a religious heretic or unbeliever, in modern usage it refers exclusively to a general wrongdoer or lawbreaker, often used with a formal or slightly humorous tone.
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the 14th century from Old French 'mescreant' (meaning 'unbelieving'), formed from the prefix 'mes-' ('wrongly') and the present participle of 'creire' ('to believe'), from Latin 'credere'.