as in villain
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person
he plays the role of the duplicitous knave who tries to foil the play's hero
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of knave
How does history distinguish knaves from legendary figures?
—
W.e. Gutman, Sun Sentinel, 8 July 2025
Human beings are motivated by virtue (knights) or rigid self-interest (knaves), or are passive victims of their circumstances (pawns).
—Sachin H. Jain, Forbes, 20 Dec. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for knave
Noun
-
Sorkin finds no heroes but also no villains.—
-
But what Ole Miss has had to deal with is beyond the norm, with Kiffin in the villain’s role.—
Noun
-
For much of his career, Skarsgård has gravitated toward characters who weaponize physical presence — Vikings, tech titans and mythic brutes whose power is immediately legible.—
-
As usual, Lang plays the brute’s Heart of Darkness–esque descent into madness with gleeful relish.—
Noun
-
Nobody wants to deal with our old devil, even if the new one comes with an encroaching open threat actively bubbling in the Caribbean and Latin America at large.—
-
But Bourdain, with his devil-be-damned demeanor, somehow makes the dish feel approachable — even though the two chefs’ recipes are pretty similar.—
Noun
-
In it, Oldham costumes up as a shaggy woodland monster, which—after a more nimble inhabitant seemingly swaps into the outfit—proceeds to engage a human in an elaborate dance routine.—
-
That mentality has fueled a monster debut season for Porter County Conference leader Kouts (12-3, 4-1).—
Noun
-
Brutal, savage, and gory, this movie follows a home invasion on Christmas Eve where a mysterious woman (Béatrice Dalle) tries to steal an unborn baby right out of another woman's (Alysson Paradis) pregnant belly.—
-
Eleonora wearing a snake, Nicole’s Reputation hair from earlier in the season, the use of the word savage constantly and from out of nowhere.—
Noun
-
Going back to the origins of everyone's favorite scoundrel, Han Solo, may have felt like a no-brainer — especially with Kasdan on board as co-writer — but the film never felt like an essential addition to the rapidly expanding canon.—
-
Giannis, a gentleman even in this era of scoundrels, likely wants to do right by the Bucks, too.—
Cite this Entry
“Knave.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/knave. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share