First Known Use: 1561
Dictionary
1rogue
noun \ˈrōg\
: a man who is dishonest or immoral
: a man who causes trouble in a playful way
Full Definition of ROGUE
2
: a dishonest or worthless person : scoundrel
3
: a mischievous person : scamp
4
: a horse inclined to shirk or misbehave
5
: an individual exhibiting a chance and usually inferior biological variation
— rogu·ish \ˈrō-gish\ adjective
— rogu·ish·ly adverb
— rogu·ish·ness noun
See rogue defined for English-language learners
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Examples of ROGUE
- Many of the vagabonds were rogues and cheaters of various kinds, and formed a subcommunity on the fringes of official society. —Charles Barber, Early Modern English, 1976
- Cartier decided that the two boys were a choice pair of rogues who would probably try to run him aground if taken as pilots, and that he would dispense with their services. —Samuel Eliot Morison, The European Discovery of America, 1971
- His account of their discoveries in the low life of a seaport town would have made a charming book, and in the various characters that came their way the student might easily have found matter for a very complete dictionary of rogues. —W. Somerset Maugham, Moon and Sixpence, 1919
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Origin of ROGUE
origin unknown
Related to ROGUE
2rogue
verb \ˈrōg\
roguedrogu·ing or rogue·ing
Definition of ROGUE
intransitive verb
: to weed out inferior, diseased, or nontypical individuals from a crop plant or a field
Origin of ROGUE
(see 1rogue)
First Known Use: 1766
3rogue
adjective \ˈrōg\
—used to describe something or someone that is different from others in usually a dangerous or harmful way
Full Definition of ROGUE
1
: resembling or suggesting a rogue elephant especially in being isolated, aberrant, dangerous, or uncontrollable <capsized by a rogue wave>
3
: of or being a nation whose leaders defy international law or norms of international behavior <rogue states>
See rogue defined for English-language learners
Examples of ROGUE
- Americans assume that our country was built by rogue males but there's more to the breed than wanderlust and rugged individualism. —Florence King, National Review, 27 Aug. 2007
- Perhaps more important, defense planners worried for the past year about the instability of the Soviet Union and the nightmare that a rogue Soviet submarine skipper might decide on his own to launch close to 200 warheads at U.S. targets. —John Barry, Newsweek, 3 June 1991
- In “The In-Laws,” Alan Arkin is a dentist led astray by a rogue C.I.A. operative … , whose son his daughter is marrying, and he winds up dodging bullets on a Caribbean island. —Terrence Rafferty, New Yorker, 30 July 1990
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Origin of ROGUE
(see 1rogue)
First Known Use: 1872
Related to ROGUE
- Synonyms
- bent [chiefly British], crooked, deceptive, double-dealing, duplicitous, fast, fraudulent, guileful, dishonest, shady, sharp, shifty, underhand, underhanded
- Antonyms
- aboveboard, honest, straight
Rogue
geographical name \ˈrōg\
Definition of ROGUE
river ab 200 miles (320 kilometers) SW Oregon rising in Crater Lake National Park & flowing W & SW into the Pacific
ROGUISHNESS Defined for Kids
rogue
noun \ˈrōg\
Definition of ROGUE for Kids
1
: a dishonest or evil person
2
: a pleasantly mischievous person
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