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Scofflaw Was Created for a Contest
In 1924, a wealthy Massachusetts Prohibitionist named Delcevare King sponsored a contest in which he asked participants to coin an appropriate word to mean "a lawless drinker." King sought a word that would cast violators of Prohibition laws in a light of shame. Two respondents came up independently with the winning word: scofflaw, formed by combining the verb scoff and the noun law. Henry Dale and Kate Butler, also of Massachusetts, split King’s $200 prize. Improbably, despite some early scoffing from language critics, scofflaw managed to pick up steam in English and expand to a meaning that went beyond its Prohibition roots, referring to one who violates any law, not just laws related to drinking.
Examples of scofflaw in a Sentence
Joe Mathews, The Mercury News, 8 Nov. 2024
Under new legislation headed to the governor, some daily fines for water scofflaws can increase 20-fold.
—Calmatters, The Mercury News, 31 Aug. 2024
Many American schoolkids can recite the misadventures of scofflaws such as Jesse James, but Moses’s story got forgotten — at least until Roberts went digging.
—Drew Goins, Washington Post, 30 July 2024
Residents in the adjacent Riverwood Ranch, a gated, 37-home enclave, are fed up and are calling for a city crackdown on scofflaw visitors.
—Jasmine Mendez, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for scofflaw 
Dictionary Entries Near scofflaw
Cite this Entry
“Scofflaw.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scofflaw. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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