A mischievous or dishonest person of the most extreme or notorious kind; a supreme scoundrel or rogue.
From 'arch-' (chief, supreme) + 'rascal' (from Old French 'rascaille,' possibly from a Germanic root). 'Rascal' originally meant the common people or rabble, later acquiring the sense of a dishonest person.
Shakespeare loved calling characters 'rascals' and would have understood 'archrascal' immediately—it's the perfect insult for a protagonist's worst enemy. The word captures how medieval people ranked moral failings, with 'arch-' versions being genuinely dangerous rather than just annoying.
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