Meaning

4 senses

  1. (dated)A tricky, deceitful fellow; a dishonest person.

    Gauner, Schurke, Bösewicht

    подле́цpodléc, плутplut, жу́ликžúlik

    ви́лупокvýlupok, негі́дникnehídnyk, падлю́каpadljúka

  2. A playing card marked with the figure of a servant or a soldier.

    Bube

    вале́тvalét

    вале́тvalét

  3. (archaic)A boy; especially, a boy servant.

    Knabe, Knappe, Junge

    ма́льчик-слуга́málʹčik-slugá, прислу́жникprislúžnik

  4. (archaic)Any male servant; a menial.

    Knecht

    прислу́жникprislúžnik, лаке́йlakéj

More definitions
  • one of four face cards in a deck bearing a picture of a young prince
  • a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel

Examples

4 sentences

  1. Honest men and knaves may possibly wear the same cloth.

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  2. You've thwarted my plans for the last time, you miserable knave!

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  3. We are arrant knaves, all. Believe none of us.

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  4. The Sheriff of Nottingham swore that he himself would bring this knave Robin Hood to justice.

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Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 2
deceitful fellow:
playing card:
Русский
By meaning 4
archaic: boy; especially, boy servant:
archaic: any male servant:
deceitful fellow:
playing card:
Deutsch
By meaning 4
archaic: boy; especially, boy servant:
archaic: any male servant:
deceitful fellow:
playing card:

Origin

From Middle English knave, knafe, from Old English cnafa (“child, boy, youth; servant”), f

From Middle English knave, knafe, from Old English cnafa (“child, boy, youth; servant”), from Proto-West Germanic *knabō. Cognate to Dutch knaap and German Knabe.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: knaves
Singularknave
Pluralknaves

regular

Synonyms

34 synonyms
heavyA1roguevillainantimodelbad guybaddiebeggarblackguardboundercadcockatricecoistrilevildoerfustilarian
Close in meaning

Word family

7 related words
Derivedbeknaveknave bairnknaveproofknaveryknaveshipknavessknavish

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
knackerknapsackkneadkneeA1

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

knave — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto