Scrooge, Grinch, and Churl: Wonderful Words for Unpleasant People

An antagonist is the villain or bad guy in a piece of fiction; the hero or main character is the protagonist.

A barbarian lacks culture and morals and civilization and a local Starbucks. This word is often used humorously these days for anyone thought to lack sophistication.

Around the year 800, a churl was simply a man, especially a husband. Over the centuries, the term spread to serfs and other non-noblemen—such as yokels or bumpkins. By the 1300s, churl had taken on the meaning that stuck, which built on the bumpkin meaning: a rude, nasty fellow with no manners and probably no morals either. This word is no longer common, but churlish is.

Misanthropes hate people. Not a certain type of people, but all people. Hey, at least they don’t play favorites.

A miscreant was originally an infidel in the 1300s. Such non-believers weren’t looked upon highly by the church-going crowd, which may be why the term morphed into a word for any person who was subpar from a morality standpoint. This word has varied as far as how serious an insult it is. A reprobate could be a villain or a minor offender. In other words, this is a one-size-fits-all insult, fit for the truly evil or just the somewhat annoying.

This word pretty much defines itself, since nay is an old-fashioned way of saying no, and that’s just what a naysayer does. Naysayers shoot down every suggestion, no matter how friendly or promising. Is a new movie worth seeing? A naysayer says nope. Will the weather be good tomorrow? A naysayer says nah.

The original meaning of this term was specifically religious. As the OED puts it, a reprobate was, “A person who has been rejected by God, an unredeemed sinner." That meaning starts appearing in the first half of the 1500s, but by the second half, the meaning that’s still in use today appears: “An unruly, reprehensible, degenerate, or wicked person; a rogue.” Given the prominence of religion, it’s natural that a word for the ungodly would evolve into a word for the immoral in general.

A scoundrel does immoral and probably illegal things. This word isn’t entirely negative, however. In fiction, lawbreakers often have a certain cool factor: Han Solo wore the label scoundrel proudly.

This term is a synonym for one aspect of Scrooges: a skinflint is stingy. Often, the people with the most money are the biggest skinflints: ever notice how it’s the super-rich who have the biggest problem with paying taxes? The kind of person who skimps on presents for friends or gives waiters terrible tips is a skinflint.