blackguard
/ˈblæɡəd/US/ˈblæɡɚd/
blackguard noun: the lowest servant in a household charged with pots, pans, and other kitchen equipment.
Noun
blackguard (plural blackguards)
- The lowest servant in a household charged with pots, pans, and other kitchen equipment.
- An unprincipled, contemptible person; an untrustworthy person.
- A man whose manners and sentiments are decidedly below those of his class deserves to be called a blackguard.1830, Thomas Macaulay, Review of Robert Southey's edition of Pilgrim's Progress, in the Edinburgh Review
- Pawn another man's property for the sake of a meal, eat and drink one's self to perdition, brand one's soul with the first little sear, set the first black mark against one's honour, call one's self a blackguard to one's own face, and needs must cast one's eyes down before one's self? Never! never!1899, Knut Hamsun, “Part I”, in George Egerton [pseudonym; Mary Chavelita Dunne Bright], transl., Hunger […], London: Leonard Smithers and Co […], →OCLC, page 68
- A man who uses foul language in front of a woman (typically a woman of high standing).
Verb
blackguard (third-person singular simple present blackguards, present participle blackguarding, simple past and past participle blackguarded)
- To revile or abuse in scurrilous language.
- Persons who passed each other in boats upon the Thames used to blackguard each other, in a trial of wit1850, Robert Southey, English Manners
- The Southern Region takes, in the main, a candid line with its public. […] An ill-informed attempt to blackguard the railway publicly is likely to see the complainant put politely—but very firmly—in his place.1962 August, “Let's have plain speaking”, in Modern Railways, page 73
- To act like a blackguard; to be a scoundrel.
blackguard meaning in Tamil, Urdu and Malayalam
blackguard in Tamil
- இழிமகன், கயவன், மிகக்கீழ்த்தர ஊழியர், இழிந்த, இழித்துரை, கயமைத்தனம் காட்டு
blackguard in Urdu
- blackguard
- لفنگا lafaṅgā
blackguard in Malayalam
- villain, lawbreaker, criminal
- ഖലൻ, ദുഷ്ടൻ, പോക്കിരി, തെമ്മാടി, അധമൻ, ദുർവൃത്തൻ
Synonyms of blackguard
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of blackguard
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | blackguards |
| alternative form | blaggard |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | blackguards |
| present participle | blackguarding |
| past participle | blackguarded |
| past | blackguarded |
Origin of blackguard
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.
Words formed from blackguard
Words that rhyme with blackguard
Questions about blackguard
- What does blackguard mean?
- Blackguard means the lowest servant in a household charged with pots, pans, and other kitchen equipment.
- What is blackguard in Tamil?
- Blackguard in Tamil is இழிமகன், கயவன், மிகக்கீழ்த்தர ஊழியர். See Blackguard meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is blackguard?
- Blackguard can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce blackguard?
- Blackguard is pronounced /ˈblæɡəd/ (UK).
- What is the plural of blackguard?
- The plural of blackguard is blackguards.
Words near blackguard in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: blackguard (page history and authors); blackguard (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); لفنگا (Urdu) (page history and authors); blackguard (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-blackguard.wav.
Cite this entry: “blackguard.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/blackguard. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.