knave

/neɪv/

/neɪv/

Other forms: knaves

You don't hear about knaves much these days: it's an older word for a rascal, a scoundrel, or a rogue. It isn't a compliment.

If you read Shakespeare for long, you'll definitely see the word knave more than once. In Shakespeare, an important person like a king or a prince might call a thief a knave. Knaves always tend to be up to trouble. You don't want to trust a knave; knaves lie, deceive, and betray. Today, we might call a knave a "scoundrel" or a "good-for-nothing."

Definitions of knave

1. noun

   a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel
   synonyms: rapscallion, rascal, rogue, scalawag, scallywag, varlet

   type of:

   scoundrel, villain

   a wicked or evil person; someone who does evil deliberately
2. noun

   one of four face cards in a deck bearing a picture of a young prince
   synonyms: jack

   type of:

   court card, face card, picture card

   one of the twelve cards in a deck bearing a picture of a face