"Scofflaws" [View all]

scofflaw
American
[skawf-law, skof-] / ˈskɔfˌlɔ, ˈskɒf- /
noun

a person who flouts the law, especially one who fails to pay fines owed.

a person who flouts rules, conventions, or accepted practices.

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.


https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scofflaw