scumbag
scumbag Lexical Profile
scumbag Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A thoroughly contemptible, dishonest, or despicable person (slang, derogatory).
"The documentary exposed the fraudulent contractor as a complete scumbag who cheated elderly homeowners out of their savings."
American A condom, especially a used one (vulgar slang).
"The sanitation crew had to clear litter and discarded scumbags from the alleyway behind the nightclub."
Word Nuance & Usage
While widely used in modern informal English as a harsh general insult for a dishonest or despicable person, the word originated as vulgar slang for a used condom, and it still carries a strongly derogatory, offensive register unsuitable for formal contexts.
• Rhymes for scumbag
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in mid-20th-century American slang as a compound of 'scum' (from Middle Dutch 'schuum', meaning foam or dross) and 'bag', originally referring to a condom before shifting in the late 1960s and 1970s to denote a contemptible person.