rogue

Meaning

Noun

1. A scoundrel, rascal or unprincipled, deceitful, and unreliable person.
2. A mischievous scamp.
3. A vagrant.
4. Malware that deceitfully presents itself as antispyware.
5. An aggressive animal separate from the herd, especially an elephant.
6. A plant that shows some undesirable variation.
7. A character class focusing on stealthy conduct.

Adj

1. Vicious and solitary.
2. (broadly) Large, destructive and unpredictable.
3. (broadly) Deceitful, unprincipled.
4. Mischievous, unpredictable.

Verb

1. To cull; to destroy plants not meeting a required standard, especially when saving seed, rogue or unwanted plants are removed before pollination.
2. (dated, transitive) To cheat.
3. (obsolete) To give the name or designation of rogue to; to decry.
4. (intransitive, obsolete) To wander; to play the vagabond; to play knavish tricks.

Synonyms

scoundrel

rascal

cheat

villain

🦹‍♂️

crook

knave

swindler

scamp

devious

ruffian

deceiver

hoodlum

scalawag

trickster

dishonest person

impostor

treacherous

thief

hooligan

gangster

wretch

rapscallion

jocular

nave

con man

bastard

devil

naughty child

mischievous person

varlet

tricky

swine

treachery

rowdy

blackguard

evildoer

juggler

hypocrite

scallywag

disobedient

dishonest

devilish

cheating

defraud

cheater

hussy

defective

humbug

deceiving

badman

Translations

Schurke

🦹‍♂️

granuja

canaille

gredin

birbante

ploert

pícaro

canalla

schavuit

furfante

schurk

fripouille

coquin

ellendeling

bribón

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɹəʊ̯ɡ/

Etymology

Cognate with Icelandic: hroki

Cognate with Breton: rog

In summary

Uncertain. From either:
* Earlier English roger (“a begging vagabond who pretends to be a poor scholar from Oxford or Cambridge”), possibly from Latin rogō (“I ask”).
* Middle French rogue (“arrogant, haughty”), from Old Northern French rogre (“aggressive”), from Old Norse hrokr (“excess, exuberance”), for which see Icelandic hroki (“arrogance”), though OED does not document this.
* Celtic; see Breton rog (“haughty”).