scabrous

[skab-ruhs]

adjective

1. having a rough surface because of minute points or projections.

2. indecent or scandalous; risqué; obscene.

   scabrous books.

   Synonyms: improper, wanton, lewd

3. full of difficulties.

scabrous

/ ˈskeɪbrəs /

adjective

1. roughened because of small projections; scaly

2. indelicate, indecent, or salacious

   scabrous humour

3. difficult to deal with; knotty

Other Word Forms

• scabrously adverb
• scabrousness noun
• unscabrous adjective
• unscabrously adverb
• unscabrousness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of scabrous¹

1575–85; < Latin scab ( e ) r rough + -ous

Word History and Origins

Origin of scabrous¹

C17: from Latin scaber rough; related to _scabies

Example Sentences

Beatty’s scabrous satire follows a Black man who decides to reinstate slavery in his rural Los Angeles enclave, a crime for which he finds himself in the hallowed halls of the Supreme Court.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The chances of a humorous newspaper ever taking up the cudgel against Islam – in the way that Charlie Hebdo used regularly and scabrously to do against Christianity and Judaism – are zero.

Read more on BBC

The theater lost the case, and both “Saved” and Bond’s next play, “Early Morning,” a scabrous satire on British royalty, were banned in Britain.

Read more on Seattle Times

His songs blended the scabrous and the sentimental, ranging from carousing anthems to snapshots of life in the gutter to unexpectedly tender love songs.

Read more on Washington Times

“Where I’m From” and “From Tha Gods to Earth” are scabrous and violent, usually getting their licks in less than two minutes.

Read more on Los Angeles Times