Word.ws English Dictionary

scofflawry

scofflawry noun: a habitual disregard for minor laws or failure to respond to trivial courts summonses.

Noun

scofflawry (uncountable)

  1. A habitual disregard for minor laws or failure to respond to trivial courts summonses.
    • The dangers of scofflawry vary wildly. The person who illegally spits on the sidewalk remains disgusting, but clearly poses less risk to others than the company that illegally buries hazardous chemical waste in an unauthorized location.1983 January 24, Frank Trippett, “Essay: A Red Light for Scofflaws”, in Time

Origin of scofflawry

From scofflaw + -ry.

Questions about scofflawry

What does scofflawry mean?
Scofflawry means a habitual disregard for minor laws or failure to respond to trivial courts summonses.
What part of speech is scofflawry?
Scofflawry is a noun.

Words near scofflawry in the dictionary

  1. scoffing-stock
  2. scoffing-stocks
  3. scoffingly
  4. scoffings
  5. scofflaw
  6. scofflawry
  7. scofflaws
  8. scoffs
  9. scoffs down
  10. scoffs up
  11. Scofield

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: scofflawry (page history and authors). 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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