scurvy
Americannoun
adjective
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of scurvy
Explanation
If you are a pirate who doesn't get to shore very often to shop for fresh fruits and veggies, you might suffer from scurvy, a disease caused by vitamin C deficiency. Scurvy has some alarming symptoms: your gums become soft and tender and your teeth fall out. Scurvy has become a rarity in most parts of the world, but in regions where food is scarce and malnutrition common, it's still a problem. The unpleasant associations of the word also make it a colorful (and archaic) way to describe something low-down and miserable, as in "that was a scurvy trick you played on me, you dastardly cur!"
Vocabulary lists containing scurvy
Romeo and Juliet
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Words Every Pirate Should Know
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"Of Plymouth Plantation," Vocabulary from the historical account
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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.
Scurvy, the great scourge of maritime exploration, the killer of some two million people between the late 1400s and 1800, was once understood as a disease of longing.
From New York Times • Feb. 5, 2020
Describing Scurvy as a 'bit of a lemon' would be glib and unfair.
From Nature • Dec. 13, 2016
Scurvy, from the vitamin C deficiency, often went along with rickets.
From Washington Post • Oct. 16, 2016
Scurvy is just one of the things that's on the list.”
From Slate • Nov. 20, 2015
Scurvy, the depletion of vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, had always been a problem on long voyages and had contributed to Captain Scott’s death en route from the South Pole.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
