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scapegrace

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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English

Etymology

From scape ((archaic) escape) + grace (grace of god).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈskeɪpɡɹeɪs/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

scapegrace (plural scapegraces)

  1. A wild and reckless person (especially a boy); a scoundrel.
    • 1859, George Meredith, chapter 4, in The Ordeal of Richard Feverel. A History of Father and Son. [], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC:
      He is now laden with that superabundant energy which makes a fool of a man, and a scapegrace of a boy, and he wants to work it off.
    • 2002, Jonathan Shay, Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming:
      An infantry officer in the trenches, Graves wrote of his rocky and scapegrace return to civilian life: "I still had the Army Habit of commandeering anything of uncertain ownership that I found lying about; also a difficulty in telling the truth--it was always easier for me now, when charged with any fault, to lie my way out in Army style."

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