scum of the earth
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“You are just treated like the scum of the earth basically,” said Phil, a 52-year-old British truck driver from Malvern in central England, who has just had what he termed a significant pay rise.
From Reuters • Sep. 30, 2021
The book poses this principled question: How did the salt of the earth come to be viewed as the scum of the earth?
From New York Times • Jul. 12, 2011
But until well into this century, most reporters fit the Duke of Wellington's description of the English soldier -- "the scum of the earth."
From Time Magazine Archive
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Still, McKevitt acknowledges that when an ex-member turns to lobbying, the attitude of his former colleagues changes: "It's not that they see you as scum of the earth, but it is a kind of disdain."
From Time Magazine Archive
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My first masters taught me to despise laymen, and inculcated the idea that the man who has not a mission in life is the scum of the earth.
From Recollections of My Youth by Renan, Ernest