RASCALLY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does rascally mean? 

• RASCALLY (adjective)
  The adjective RASCALLY has 2 senses:

1. playful in an appealingly bold way

2. lacking principles or scruples

  Familiarity information: RASCALLY used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RASCALLY (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Playful in an appealingly bold way

Synonyms:

devilish; rascally; roguish

Context example:

a roguish grin

Similar:

playful (full of fun and high spirits)

Derivation:

rascal (one who is playfully mischievous)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Lacking principles or scruples

Synonyms:

blackguardly; rascally; roguish; scoundrelly

Context example:

the captain was set adrift by his roguish crew

Similar:

dishonest; dishonorable (deceptive or fraudulent; disposed to cheat or defraud or deceive)

Derivation:

rascal (a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel)

 Context examples 

I owe such a grudge to myself for the stupid, rascally folly of my own heart, that all my past sufferings under it are only triumph and exultation to me now.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

His eyes looked green now, as they watched mine with a rascally cunning.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

So up she ran from the cellar; and sure enough the rascally cur had got the steak in his mouth, and was making off with it.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

And those who do know, whisper that the hunters, while excellent shots, were so notorious for their quarrelsome and rascally proclivities that they could not sign on any decent schooner.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Then he joins a rascally crew and must needs trapse off to the wars, and me with no one to bait the fire if I be out, or tend the cow if I be home.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Had I been recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an hour’s purchase; for I have used it before now for my own purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have vengeance upon me.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)