scrofulous
Americanadjective
-
of, relating to, resembling, or having scrofula
-
morally degraded
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of scrofulous
First recorded in 1605–15; scroful(a) + -ous
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.
But there was nevertheless a certain suggestion of holding court: visitors queued up to be transformed by art, like the scrofulous awaiting the king’s touch.
From The Guardian • Apr. 20, 2017
Characters communicate through coded riddles and secret messages; they write pulp fiction with titles "BIEHXIXHEIB" and "The Principatrix of Gnawledge" and the narrative is littered with words like "scrofulous" and "querelophone."
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 4, 2016
Giant catfish and other Amazon delicacies slopped in buckets amid scrofulous dogs by the dozen begging for scraps.
From New York Times • Sep. 13, 2013
In any case they don’t get in his way, which is a mercy, since Mr. Walken’s Carmichael is a scrofulous wonder to behold.
From New York Times • Mar. 5, 2010
The dead man was one of Ramsay’s favorites, the squat, scrofulous, ill-favored man-at-arms called Yellow Dick.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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.
