rogue
noun
- vagrant person who wanders from place to place
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈɹəʊɡ/ / /ˈɹoʊ̯ɡ/
adj
Etymology: Uncertain. From either: * Earlier English roger (“a begging vagabond who pretends to be a poor scholar from Oxford or Cambridge”), possibly from Latin rogō (“to ask”). * Middle French rogue (“arrogant, haughty”), from Old Northern French rogre (“aggressive”), from Old Norse hrokr (“excess, exuberance”), for which see Icelandic hroki (“arrogance”), though OED does not document this. * Celtic; see Breton rog (“haughty”).
- Vicious and solitary.
“Mosquito. One lone rogue mosquito.”
- Large, destructive and unpredictable.
- Deceitful, unprincipled.
“In the minds of Republican hard-liners, the "Silent Majority" of Americans who had elected the President, and even Nixon's two Democrat predecessors, China was a gigantic nuke-wielding rogue state prepared to overrun the free world at any moment.”
- Mischievous, unpredictable.
“Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.”
name
Etymology: English surname, originally a nickname derived from the adjective. See rogue.
- A surname.
noun
Etymology: Uncertain. From either: * Earlier English roger (“a begging vagabond who pretends to be a poor scholar from Oxford or Cambridge”), possibly from Latin rogō (“to ask”). * Middle French rogue (“arrogant, haughty”), from Old Northern French rogre (“aggressive”), from Old Norse hrokr (“excess, exuberance”), for which see Icelandic hroki (“arrogance”), though OED does not document this. * Celtic; see Breton rog (“haughty”).
- A scoundrel, rascal or unprincipled, deceitful, and unreliable person.
“And meet time it was, when yon usher, vinegar-faced rogue that he is, began to inquire what popish trangam you were wearing […]”
“He had told more lies in his time, and undergone more baseness of stratagem in order to stave off a small debt, or to swindle a poor creditor, than would have sufficed to make a fortune for a braver rogue.”
- A mischievous scamp.
“Ah, you sweet little rogue, you!”
- A vagrant.
- Malware that deceitfully presents itself as antispyware.
“An entry in the Microsoft Malware Protection Center's Threat Research & Response Blog shows that rogue AV, also known as scareware, is ruling the malware roost, as 6 top of the 10 malicious programs removed by the MSRT (Malicious Software Removal Tool) in the US in October were 'rogues'.”
“Next, click the "Installed on" heading in the Windows 7 uninstaller to sort the list by date, and see if any programs have the same date and time stamps as your rogues.”
- An aggressive animal separate from the herd, especially an elephant.
“If he is a rogue, and there's any truth to territoriality at all, we got a good chance of spotting him between Cape Scott and South Beach.”
- A horse, mule, or donkey that is difficult to control; a refractory horse, especially a racehorse.
“The rogues among the horses and mules sought every chance to break the line and hide under shady trees where sweet grass grew.”
- A plant that shows some undesirable variation.
“2000 Carol Deppe, Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties, Totnes: Chelsea Green Pub. Maintaining varieties also requires selection, however. It's usually referred to as culling or roguing. ...we examine the [plant] population and eliminate the occasional rogue.”
- A character class focusing on stealthy conduct.
“As a rogue, I weave together light and heavy attacks, sometimes holding a button longer to charge an attack and build up the stagger meter on an enemy.”
verb
Etymology: Uncertain. From either: * Earlier English roger (“a begging vagabond who pretends to be a poor scholar from Oxford or Cambridge”), possibly from Latin rogō (“to ask”). * Middle French rogue (“arrogant, haughty”), from Old Northern French rogre (“aggressive”), from Old Norse hrokr (“excess, exuberance”), for which see Icelandic hroki (“arrogance”), though OED does not document this. * Celtic; see Breton rog (“haughty”).
- To cull; to destroy plants not meeting a required standard, especially when saving seed, rogue or unwanted plants are removed before pollination.
“2000 Carol Deppe, Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties, Totnes: Chelsea Green Pub. Maintaining varieties also requires selection, however. It's usually referred to as culling or roguing. ...we examine the [plant] population and eliminate the occasional rogue.”
“Our skill as roguers was being tested. After we had rogued a field the field was inspected and the potatoes classified Stock Seed, A, B or H. In those days, between Stock seed and Class A, there was £2 per ton of potatoes difference.”
- To cheat.
“And then to think that Mark should have rogued me of five shiners! He was clever—that's a fact.”
- To give the name or designation of rogue to; to decry.
“he Atheists may endeavour to rogue and ridicule all incorporeal Substance”
- To wander; to play the vagabond; to play knavish tricks.
“if hee be but once so taken idlely roguing”