Contextualizebeta

scofflaw

noun
/ˈskɔfˌlɔ/US

Etymology

From scoff + law. Coined simultaneously by Mr Henry Irving Dale and Miss Kate L. Butler for a contest held in Boston in 1923 in which a word for "a lawless drinker of illegally made or illegally obtained liquor" was sought during the Prohibition era.

  1. derived from *legʰ-✻ — “to lie”
  2. derived from *lagą✻ — “that which is laid down”
  3. derived from lǫg — “law”
  4. inherited from lagu — “law”
  5. inherited from lawe
  6. formed as scofflaw — “scoff + law”

Definitions

  1. One who habitually violates minor laws or fails to answer trivial court summonses (such…

    One who habitually violates minor laws or fails to answer trivial court summonses (such as parking tickets).

    • The scofflaw entered the scoflsloon. He leaned an elbow on the scoffbar and rested a foot on the scoffrail. 'Waddle'y' have?" said the scoffbartender. "A little tea," said the scofflaw.
    • If we are to scour out the scofflaws, we must first remove those particular laws at which nearly everybody scoffs.
    • Within six months, with the full cooperation of police throughout the state, the scofflaw rate was down to 22 per cent.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for scofflaw. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA