different between rascalry vs rascal

English

Etymology

rascal +? -ry

Noun

rascalry (plural rascalries)

1. Rascally behavior.
   • 1870, "Review of Tracts written in the Controversy respecting the Legitimacy of Amicia, daughter of Hugh Cyveliok, Earl of Chester, A.D. 1673-1679," The Antheneum, 1 Oct., p. 427:

     The Dutch war, the rights of election, contests between king and parliament on questions of vital importance, the plots, rascalries, the shame and humiliation of the time, must have been in men's thoughts.

   • 1965, Raja Rao, The Cat and Shakespeare: A Tale of India, Macmillan, p. 90:

     Can a rascal see his rascalry? How could he, poor man?

2. (collectively, uncountable) Rascals.
   • 1878, John Doran, Memories of Our Great Towns, Chatto & Windus (London), p. 108:

     All the rascalry of the town, under the slogan of 'Church and King! and d--- all Presbyterians!' took advantage of the opportunity to burn, destroy, and plunder.

   • 1978, Robert G. Wesson, State Systems: International Pluralism, Politics, and Culture, Free Press, p. 167:

     Once-productive fields were deserted, as magnates surrounded themselves with hired rascalry, and banditry took over large areas of the countryside.

Synonyms

• rascality

English

Etymology

Recorded since c.1330, as Middle English rascaile (“people of the lowest class, rabble of an army”), derived from 12th century Old French rascaille (“outcast, rabble”) (modern French racaille), perhaps from rasque (“mud, filth, scab, dregs”), from Vulgar Latin *rasic? (“to scrape”). The singular form is first attested in 1461; the present extended sense of "low, dishonest person" is from early 1586.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /????skl?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??æskl?/
• Rhymes: -??sk?l, -æsk?l

Noun

rascal (plural rascals)

1. A dishonest person; a rogue, a scoundrel, a trickster.
2. Sometimes diminutive: a cheeky person or creature; a troublemaker.

3. (Papua New Guinea) A member of a criminal gang.

Synonyms

• (dishonest person; rogue): see Thesaurus:villain
• (cheeky person): devil, imp, mischief-maker, scamp, scoundrel; see also Thesaurus:troublemaker

Translations

Adjective

rascal (comparative more rascal, superlative most rascal)

1. (archaic) Low; lowly, part of or belonging to the common rabble.

Translations

Derived terms

• rascality
• rascally
• rascalry

Further reading

• Rascal in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• Claars, craals, lascar, sacral, sarlac, scalar