'archscoundrel' originates from English, specifically the prefix 'arch-' (from Greek 'arkhos' via Latin/Old French) + the noun 'scoundrel' (from Middle English 'scoundrel', of uncertain earlier origin), where 'arch-' meant 'chief, extreme' and 'scoundrel' meant 'a low or dishonorable person'.

'arch-' as an intensifying prefix was combined in English with existing nouns (e.g. 'archvillain') to form intensified compound nouns; 'scoundrel' existed in Middle English and by analogy the compound 'archscoundrel' came to be used to label a chief or extreme scoundrel in later English usage.

Initially the elements separately denoted 'chief/extreme' and 'dishonorable person'; over time the compound came to be used idiomatically to mean an especially notorious or extreme scoundrel.