miscreant

English

WOTD – 27 April 2009

Alternative forms

• miscreaunt (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old French mescreant (1080) "mis-believer", present participle of mescreire "to misbelieve" (modern mécroire).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: mĭsʹkrē-ənt, IPA^(key): /ˈmɪs.kɹi.ənt/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (AU)

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Adjective

miscreant (comparative more miscreant, superlative most miscreant)

1. Lacking in conscience or moral principles; unscrupulous.
2. (theology) Holding an incorrect religious belief.

Translations

lacking in conscience or moral principles; unscrupulous

• Bulgarian: низък (bg) (nizǎk), подъл (bg) (podǎl)
• Czech: ničemný
• German: gewissenloser Mensch m, Übeltäter (de) m, Schurke (de) m

• Russian: развращённый (ru) (razvraščónnyj)
• Swedish: skurkaktig (sv), samvetslös

holding an incorrect religious belief

• Bulgarian: еретически (bg) (eretičeski)
• Czech: kacířský
• Esperanto: άπιστος
• French: mécréant (fr)

• German: Ungläubiger (de) m, Ketzer (de) m
• Russian: еретический (ru) (jeretičeskij)
• Serbo-Croatian: heretički (sh)

Noun

miscreant (plural miscreants)

1. One who has behaved badly, or illegally.
   • 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene i], page 23, column 1–2:

     Thou art a Traitor, and a Miſcreant;
     Too good to be ſo, and too bad to liue,
     Since the more faire and chriſtall is the skie,
     The vglier ſeeme the cloudes that in it flye:

   The teacher sent the miscreants to see the school principal.

2. One not restrained by moral principles; an unscrupulous villain.
   • a. 1719, Joseph Addison, A Riddle of Dean Swift's verfified

     A meagre Catchpole hurries me to fail; No Miscreant, so remorseless, ever tore
     Thy Journals, Fog, or knock'd at Franklin's door

3. (theology) One who holds a false religious belief; a misbeliever.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for VVilliam Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938, book I, canto IV, stanza 41:

     Arise thou cursed Miscreaunt,

     That hast with knightlesse guile and trecherous train

     Faire knighthood fowly shamed

   (Can we find and add a quotation of De Quincey to this entry?)

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:miscreant.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:troublemaker
• See also Thesaurus:villain

Translations

one who has behaved badly or illegally

• Czech: ničema (cs) m
• Serbo-Croatian: izgrednik

• Spanish: facineroso
• Swedish: ogärningsman (sv) c, missdådare (sv) c, ligist (sv) c

one not restrained by moral principles

• Bulgarian: злодей (bg) m (zlodej)
• Czech: ničema (cs) m

• Swedish: missdådare (sv) c

one who holds a false religious belief; an unbeliever

• Arabic: فَاسِق‎ m (fāsiq)
• Bulgarian: еретик (bg) (eretik)
• Czech: kacíř (cs) m, nevěrec m
• French: mécréant (fr) m, mécréante (fr) f

• German: Missetäter m, Missetäterin f
• Serbo-Croatian: heretik (sh), bezvjerac (sh), bezbožnik (sh)
• Turkish: fasık (tr)

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