scofflaw

/ˈskɔfˌlɔ/

Etymology

From 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.

Why this word is great

SCOFFLAW — [Noun] One who habitually violates minor laws or fails to answer trivial court summonses, such as parking tickets. From scoff ("to mock or disregard") + law ("legal rule"), coined in 1923 during a contest seeking a term for those who flouted Prohibition-era liquor laws. Unlike "outlaw" (which conjures horseback fugitives and high-stakes rebellion) or "delinquent" (which suggests wayward youth and systemic defiance), the scofflaw is a creature of petty, bureaucratic resistance—the unpaid meter, the ignored jaywalking ticket, the dog left off its leash in a technically leash-only park. It is the small, stubborn friction of civil disobedience without the cause, the shrug in the face of minor authority, the quiet insistence that some rules are merely suggestions. A philosophy of inconvenience, practiced daily.

noun

  1. One who habitually violates minor laws or fails to answer trivial court summonses (such as parking tickets).“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.”