English [ edit ]

Etymology [ edit ]

scoff +‎ law. Coined simultaneously by Mr Henry Irving Dale and Miss Kate L. Butler for a contest held in Boston in 1923 in which a word for "a lawless drinker of illegally made or illegally obtained liquor" was sought during the Prohibition era.[1]

Pronunciation [ edit ]

Noun [ edit ]

scofflaw (plural scofflaws)

( US ) One who habitually violates minor laws or fails to answer trivial court summonses (such as parking tickets). 1925 : Wholesale Grocery Review The scofflaw entered the scoflsloon. He leaned an elbow on the scoffbar and rested a foot on the scoffrail.

'Waddle'y' have?" said the scoffbartender.

"A little tea," said the scofflaw .

So the scoffffbartender [ sic ] poured him something from a scoffflask [ sic ] under the bar. It looked like tea.

The scofflaw raised it; he scofflipped it suddently. [ sic ]

"How was it?" scoffed the scoffclerk to the scofflaw.

"Scoffal," said the scofflaw, scouching.

: 1926 : The Independent , Volume 117 If we are to scour out the scofflaws , we must first remove those particular laws at which nearly everybody scoffs.

: , Volume 117 200 : 10th International Conference on High-Occupancy Vehicle Systems: Compendium of Technical Papers The signage will make it clear that if a motorist is an HOV scofflaw (i.e., violator of the vehicle code driving in the HOV-Only zone) that they will be subject to HOV violation fine of at least $271.

: 10th International Conference on High-Occupancy Vehicle Systems: Compendium of Technical Papers 1967 : Police: The Journal Covering the Professional Interests of All Law Enforcement Personnel , Volumes 12-13 Within six months, with the full cooperation of police throughout the state, the scofflaw rate was down to 22 per cent.

: , Volumes 12-13 1990 : West's New York Supplement At that time, appellant was informed that because there were unpaid tickets in the amount of $2,725.00, his Datsun had been declared a " scofflaw " car.

: 2013: A Decent, Orderly Lynching: The Montana Vigilantes by Frederick Allen (University of Oklahoma Press) Given Montana's continued, fretful association with various scofflaw organizations and its unwanted reputation as a place without speed limits or other boundaries on personal behavior, we might do well to acknowledge the excesses and inherent abuse of power carried out by men who for too many years refused to bow to the police and courts and rule of law.

See also [ edit ]