blackguard

== English == === Alternative forms === blaggard === Etymology === From black +‎ guard, thought to have referred originally to the scullions and lower menials of a court, or of a nobleman's household, who wore black liveries or blacked shoes and boots, or were often stained with soot. === Pronunciation === (UK) IPA(key): /ˈblæɡəd/ (US) IPA(key): /ˈblæɡɚd/ Rhymes: -æɡə(ɹ)d === Noun === blackguard (plural blackguards) (historical) The lowest servant in a household charged with pots, pans, and other kitchen equipment. Hypernym: servant (dated, chiefly of men) An unprincipled, contemptible person; an untrustworthy person. Synonyms: scoundrel; see also Thesaurus:jerk, Thesaurus:villain 1830, Thomas Macaulay, Review of Robert Southey's edition of Pilgrim's Progress, in the Edinburgh Review A man whose manners and sentiments are decidedly below those of his class deserves to be called a blackguard. 2006, Jan Freeman, 'Blaggards' of the year – Boston Globe "Arrr, keelhaul the blaggards!" wrote Ty Burr in the Globe last summer, pronouncing sentence on the malefactors who brought us the second "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie. (archaic) A man who uses foul language in front of a woman (typically a woman of high standing). ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== ==== Translations ==== ==== See also ==== blagger === Verb === blackguard (third-person singular simple present blackguards, present participle blackguarding, simple past and past participle blackguarded) (transitive) To revile or abuse in scurrilous language. (intransitive) To act like a blackguard; to be a scoundrel. === Further reading === Blackguard in the 1920 edition of Encyclopedia Americana. “blackguard”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.