scabby

American  

[skab-ee] / ˈskæb i /

adjective

scabbier, scabbiest

1. covered with scabs; having many scabs.

2. consisting of scabs.

3. (of an animal or plant) having scab.

4. Informal. mean or contemptible.

   a scabby trick.

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scabby British  

/ ˈskæbɪ /

adjective

1. pathol having an area of the skin covered with scabs

2. obsolete pathol having scabies

3. informal despicable

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Other Word Forms

• scabbiness
  noun
• scabbily
  adverb

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Etymology

Origin of scabby

First recorded in 1520–30; scab + -y ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

scabby scabbiest

Their life together is tinged with the absence of Lily’s mother, who only occasionally appears, thin-armed and scabby.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 5, 2023

"It was a busy weekend and there were a lot of people ready for a day out. There was me, absolutely stinking, wheeling this box and eating bits of scabby old sandwich."

From BBC ● Jan. 16, 2023

Scratching your bow and scratching your scabby elbows!

From The New Yorker ● Feb. 25, 2019

I was the kid who whose body was covered with eczema - raw, red, oozing and scabby.

From New York Times ● Aug. 24, 2016

“No, like all scabby and gross. She was biting an old rope. She tried to make me stick my hand in some box.”

From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull

Thus, they would call their dogs and their asses by his name, and the dogs would be the scabbiest in the streets, and the asses the laziest in the market.

From The Scapegoat; a romance and a parable by Sir Hall Caine

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