blackguard
Noun · VerbWordNet 3.0
Verb (2)
- subject to laughter or ridicule“The satirists ridiculed the plans for a new opera house”“The students poked fun at the inexperienced teacher”“His former students roasted the professor at his 60th birthday”Synonyms: ridiculeroastguylaugh atjest atribmake funpoke fun
- use foul or abusive language towards“The actress abused the policeman who gave her a parking ticket”“The angry mother shouted at the teacher”Synonyms: abuseclapperclawshout
Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)
Blackguard \Black"guard`\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Blackguarded; p. pr. & vb. n. Blackguarding.] To revile or abuse in scurrilous language. --Southey. [1913 Webster]
Blackguard \Black"guard\, a. Scurrilous; abusive; low; worthless; vicious; as, blackguard language. [1913 Webster]
Blackguard \Black"guard\ (bl[a^]g"g[aum]rd), n. [Black + guard.]
1.The scullions and lower menials of a court, or of a nobleman's household, who, in a removal from one residence to another, had charge of the kitchen utensils, and being smutted by them, were jocularly called the "black guard"; also, the servants and hangers-on of an army. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
A lousy slave, that . . . rode with the black guard in the duke's carriage, 'mongst spits and dripping pans.— Webster (1612).[1913 Webster]
2.The criminals and vagrants or vagabonds of a town or community, collectively. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
3.A person of stained or low character, esp. one who uses scurrilous language, or treats others with foul abuse; a scoundrel; a rough. [1913 Webster]
A man whose manners and sentiments are decidedly below those of his class deserves to be called a blackguard.— Macaulay.[1913 Webster]
4.A vagrant; a bootblack; a gamin. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
The Devil's Dictionary
BLACKGUARD, n. A man whose qualities, prepared for display like a box of berries in a market -- the fine ones on top -- have been opened on the wrong side. An inverted gentleman.