1
as in monkeys
an appealingly mischievous person
you little rascal, I saw you snitching some hors d'oeuvres even though our guests haven't even arrived yet
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in villains
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person
some cold-blooded rascal had set the barn afire
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of rascals
Of all the former rascals, Symoné has enjoyed the longest and most successful career in entertainment.
—
Andrew Walsh, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Jan. 2026
In the years since 2004’s Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, Penn’s carved out a niche embodying big-talking, attention-grabbing rascals who say inappropriate things, then shrug their way through the consequences.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 12 Jan. 2026
In a time when unemployment is on the rise and the rich are running amok and wreaking havoc on the poor — and the social services in place to support them — who doesn’t love the idea of rogue rascals sticking it to a bougie institution by running off with its crown jewels?
—Kathleen Newman-Bremang, Refinery29, 12 Nov. 2025
The former child actors have grown up since their go-kart derby days on-screen — some have even welcomed their own little rascals off-screen.
—Keith Langston, People.com, 5 Aug. 2025
Andrew Walsh, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Jan. 2026
In the years since 2004’s Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, Penn’s carved out a niche embodying big-talking, attention-grabbing rascals who say inappropriate things, then shrug their way through the consequences.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 12 Jan. 2026
In a time when unemployment is on the rise and the rich are running amok and wreaking havoc on the poor — and the social services in place to support them — who doesn’t love the idea of rogue rascals sticking it to a bougie institution by running off with its crown jewels?
—Kathleen Newman-Bremang, Refinery29, 12 Nov. 2025
The former child actors have grown up since their go-kart derby days on-screen — some have even welcomed their own little rascals off-screen.
—Keith Langston, People.com, 5 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rascals
Noun
-
The walls disappeared into a forest of trees, where live monkeys and at least one bear lurked behind the trunks.—
Serena Turner,
Vanity Fair,
30 Mar. 2026
-
And so do some primates, such as bonobos and snub-nosed monkeys.—
Jackie Flynn Mogensen,
Scientific American,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
But CFCs, the solution to an earlier problem, turned out to be villains in disguise.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
31 Mar. 2026
-
These measures are politically popular and ultra-wealthy Big Tech chiefs are easy villains.—
Catherine Thorbecke,
Twin Cities,
28 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Other propaganda compared Native people to buffalo, cats, dogs, and devils.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 Mar. 2026
-
There are sounds and shadows in the forest; the Devil, or devils, may be walking the earth.—
Joshua Rothman,
New Yorker,
23 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The psychology that Bryk wrote for these young men is the key as to why these brutes are more lovable than unbearable.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Variety,
14 Mar. 2026
-
Credit to producers Tim Zinnemann and George Linder for selecting a veritable array of brutes to wage battle with Arnold.—
Duane Byrge,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Cyber criminals linked to Iran have accessed FBI Director Kash Patel's personal email account, sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
28 Mar. 2026
-
That convenience also gives criminals a perfect disguise.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
24 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Holmes qualified for the reduced term under a 2023 rule change allowing first-time offenders to do less time for some non-violent crimes, according to an order issued Thursday by the federal judge who sentenced her in 2022 for defrauding investors in her blood-testing startup.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
27 Mar. 2026
-
And many Democrats see it as an effort to curb more liberal prosecutors who have embraced restorative justice policies, including steering nonviolent offenders away from prison sentences or taking more lax approaches to drug offenses.—
Riley Bunch,
AJC.com,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Or Irish, in a time when they were seen as savages by the Englishmen?—
Arushi Jacob,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
There's also aliens or monsters or some other supernatural entity out to get them.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
30 Mar. 2026
-
Sometimes darkly humorous, sometimes strangely heartbreaking, this immersive storytelling experience is Edgar Allan Poe for the modern age; a heart-to-bleeding-heart with madmen, murderers and monsters all dying to tell their story.—
William Earl,
Variety,
25 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Rascals.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rascals. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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