1
as in monkey
an appealingly mischievous person
those little scamps are always getting into trouble, but no one has the heart to punish them
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in villain
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person
an insincere and ruthlessly ambitious scamp who was willing to do anything to win the reality show's grand prize
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to botch
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of scamp
Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman, 24 June 2024
Dogs were the reigning scamps in most households and were twice as likely as cats to cause damage.
—Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY, 9 July 2024
Elle Carroll, Vulture, 6 Dec. 2021
Sunshine scamps: The Florida Project is a delighful, poignant, dark-and-light movie about kids living on the seedy side of Disney.
—Rebecca Onion, Slate Magazine, 6 Oct. 2017
See All Example Sentences for scamp
Noun
Eventually, neighborhood scamps dropped down into the park's stone drainage channel, built in 1934 as a New Deal project and still the park's distinguishing feature, and followed it underground.
—Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman, 24 June 2024
Dogs were the reigning scamps in most households and were twice as likely as cats to cause damage.
—Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY, 9 July 2024
Verb
While its individual characters feel largely interchangeable, the movie hums with life and pleasure when Borowczyk lets his nuns twirl around the chapel in a painterly tableau and scamp through the convent.
—Elle Carroll, Vulture, 6 Dec. 2021
Sunshine scamps: The Florida Project is a delighful, poignant, dark-and-light movie about kids living on the seedy side of Disney.
—Rebecca Onion, Slate Magazine, 6 Oct. 2017
See All Example Sentences for scamp
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scamp
Noun
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While Violet is a doting mom, other monkeys in the troop also are helping keep an eye on the new addition, zoo officials said.—
Sara Schilling,
Sacbee.com,
11 Apr. 2025
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Just then, the view changes to reveal a terrified monkey restrained in a similar fashion.—
Chris Gardner,
HollywoodReporter,
11 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Children meet superheroes and villains, engage with games and movies, and are greeted by staff in costume.—
Chris Gallagher,
USA Today,
19 Apr. 2025
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The soul patch, villain, and walrus facial hair all work with masks while mutton chops and chin curtain don’t.—
Lisa Wood Shapiro,
Wired News,
18 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Deborah botches the presser that follows by refusing to respond to ageist, sexist questions with witty banter — a totally foreseeable scenario that Ava anticipated and prepared for, but Deborah tossed Ava’s jokes in the trash.—
Jessica M. Goldstein,
Vulture,
11 Apr. 2025
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To read Scott is to feel the fatalistic sense that civilization may have been botched from the beginning.—
Nikil Saval,
New Yorker,
7 Apr. 2025
Noun
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To break the cycle of bias, Play devil’s advocate with yourself.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
26 Mar. 2025
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Fire in the birthing cabin, where another devil stands.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes,
21 Mar. 2025
Noun
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By the end of the episode, the audience is eager to meet the antihero, the brute, that everyone is talking about.—
Maelle Beauget-Uhl,
Forbes,
14 Mar. 2025
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Slinging a sports coat over his pajamas, Long pulls up to a curb and finds Tay (Dustin Nguyen), the Vietnamese speaker, plus two silent brutes, Eddie (Phi Vu) and Aden (Dali Benssalah), who muscle into his car and take over everything: the seating arrangements, the air freshener and their driver.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
2 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Has Trump bungled the economy? President Donald Trump’s approval ratings on the economy and inflation have fallen after weeks of tariff policy twists and turmoil in the stock market, according to a new poll.—
Daniel de Visé,
USA Today,
14 Apr. 2025
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These are times the team put themselves in a position to pick up one point — and sometimes two — and bungled it.—
Peter Baugh,
New York Times,
12 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Alex has two choices: Linger at Union Station and see what rascals cross her path, or take up an invitation to join her British guardian angels at their home in Winnetka.—
Amanda Whiting,
Vulture,
23 Mar. 2025
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After their car is stolen, the group of rascals must resort to some hilarious hijinks to get past the finish line.—
Kara Nesvig,
Parents,
12 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The space monsters are also entirely terrifying, gestating inside young suns to hideously emerge as massive space insects.—
Ollie Barder,
Forbes.com,
9 Apr. 2025
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Natalie and a real-estate agent named Dawn (Danielle Brooks), in search of the missing Henry, make their way to the Overworld, too, and the four team up with Steve in a painfully generic adventure to fight off monsters, find another Crystal, save the Overworld (and Dennis), and get back home.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
9 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Scamp.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scamp. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.
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