noun
blackguard
BLAK-gard/ˈblækɡɑːrd/
A dishonorable or contemptible person.
The blackguard steals coins from his trusting companion’s purse.
Etymology
The combination of “black” and “guard” may have begun as a mock-military label for household kitchen servants. The word’s early sense of “scullion” later gave way to a coarse or contemptible man.
In context
That blackguard Pyotr Petrovitch couldn’t find you better lodgings …
More examples
- In the old novel, she denounces the swindler as a blackguard.
- The blackguard tricked the family out of its savings.
- His deliberate cruelty revealed him as a blackguard.
Forms
blackguard · blackguards
Similar words
- scoundrel
- Scoundrel and blackguard both condemn dishonorable conduct; blackguard sounds more old-fashioned.
- rogue
- Rogue can suggest charming misbehavior; blackguard is a harsher judgment of character.