scum of the earth
9
8.7
- idiom
- /skʌm əv ði ɜrθ/
- Offensive
:
escoria
- Politicians are the laziest scum of the earth.
- the lowest scum of the earth
Trash, trash, scum of the earth, scum of the earth.
- Trash, trash, scum of the earth, scum of the earth.
Examples
-
We never wanted to get involved with politics and the scum of the earth that call themselves politicians.
Blog text (23) -
Owners of puppy mills are the scum of the earth, but you know that.
Blog text (2) -
People like you are still scum of the earth.
-
I felt like the scum of the earth.
Blog text (12) -
I know I'm the scum of the earth.
-
When good people notice they are doing something that makes them feel like the scum of the earth, they typically stop what they're doing.
Blog text (12) -
And all of us who spend our lives cleaning up the scum of the earth, well, that makes us glorified janitors, right?
Blog text (33) -
Good, 'cause they're the scum of the earth, lawyers, and I should know, bein' an ex-barrister myself.
-
These pernicious, dim-witted, sadistic so-called 'Baptists' are simply scum of the earth and must be identified as such.
Blog text (26) -
Many believe that those who commit heinous crimes are the scum of the earth.
Synonyms
182
8.1
A person who is seen as evil or dishonest
169
9.9
A person or thing that is very bad and has no value used to insult someone
168
9.5
A person who treats other people very badly and unfairly
148
7.4
People who are treated as worthless or unimportant
40
8.2
An unpleasant person who lies or treats others badly
20
9.2
A person who is mean and cannot be trusted
16
8.1
A person who behaves badly and cannot be trusted
9
8.2
A person who is dishonest and treats others badly
1
8.9
A very bad person who treats other people cruelly
1
9.9
A rude, selfish person who does not help others
1
9.9
A rude word for a person people strongly dislike
1
9.9
A person who lies or cheats and treats others badly
1
9.2
An insulting word for a person who is dishonest or behaves badly
1
9.0
An insulting name for a person thought to be very bad and not to be trusted
A person people strongly dislike because they behave badly or are dirty
People who are most hated and looked down on in a society
Antonyms
How Despicable
Surface Forms
Morphology
The insult's meaning is directly derivable from its parts: 'scum' denotes people regarded as worthless or despicable, and 'of the earth' extends that classification to people in general (i.e. the world). This compositional intensification is predictable and follows normal English noun + of-phrase patterns, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would understand the intended sense.
Etymology
Scum of the earth comes from a harsh image: scum is the thin, dirty film that floats on water or sits on mud, and earth means the ground or world. People compared very bad people to that dirty layer, so the phrase now means 'the worst people'.