scarper
scarp·er/ˈskɑɹpəɹ/verb, noun
scarper is spelled S-C-A-R-P-E-R: 7 letters and 2 syllables (scarp·er). It appears about once in every 28 million words in written English, the 161,690th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, scarper means “Chiefly in scarper the letty: to depart quickly or run away from (a place); to flee” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in scarper?
| Letters | 7: S-C-A-R-P-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: scarp·er |
| In writing | about once in every 28 million words; the 161,690th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is scarper?
Scarper appears about once in every 28 million words in written English, the 161,690th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce scarper?
- UK /ˈskɑːpə/
- US /ˈskɑɹpəɹ/
Scarper has 2 syllables, split scarp·er in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-scarper.wav, En-au-scarper.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with scarper?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as scarper from its last stressed vowel (/ɑɹpəɹ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: scraper.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of scarper
- scarpers present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- scarpering participle, present
- scarpered participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does scarper mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
UKdatedslangChiefly in scarper the letty: to depart quickly or run away from (a place); to flee.
- 2
UKslangTo depart quickly; to escape, to flee, to run away.
noun
- 1
UKslangChiefly in do a scarper: an act of departing quickly or running away; an escape, a flight.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does scarper come from?
The verb is probably borrowed from Italian scappare (“to run away, escape, flee”), from Vulgar Latin *excappāre (“to escape”), from Latin ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’) + cappa (“(Late Latin) cape, cloak (usually with a hood); (Medieval Latin) cap; headwear”) (further etymology uncertain, probably ultimately from caput (“head”), from dialectal Proto-Indo-European *káput (“head”)) + -āre (the present active infinitive of -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)). Around World War I (1914–1918), the English word was influenced by the Cockney rhyming slang term Scapa Flow (“to go”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).