craggy
Americanadjective
-
having many crags
-
(of the face) rugged; rocklike
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of craggy
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at crag 1, -y 1
Explanation
Something is craggy when it's uneven, rough, and jagged, like the craggy cliffs along a rocky beach. The adjective craggy is most often used to describe a landscape or natural feature like a hill or outcrop, and occasionally a scarred or pitted face, like your uncle's craggy cheeks. The word comes from crag, "rugged cliff or rock." Most crags are found in northern Scotland and England, and the roots of crag go back to a Celtic source.
Vocabulary lists containing craggy
Everything Sad Is Untrue
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I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011
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Paradise on Fire
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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.
See Examples For:
"It's set in this dark, craggy, bleak landscape, and we had the permission to be really electronic and avant-garde. That was really nice, to go somewhere people aren't expecting us to go."
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
That distinct fat melts slowly in the oven, creating a loose, craggy structure that sizzles into a proper crust on the outside while staying plush within.
From Salon ● Mar. 11, 2026
Not unlike a bighorn, she handily scrambled up the craggy slope it stretched over.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 1, 2026
Exploring these craggy psychological contours from the perspectives of the investigators, the accused’s shocked parents, and a psychologist tasked with evaluating the boy and his parents in four taut episodes is equally impressive.
From Salon ● Dec. 17, 2025
It was craggy, his beard white and red.
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
Cougars shrunk their home ranges as wolves expanded in the park, selecting areas that were craggier, steeper, and more densely forested.
From National Geographic ● Aug. 25, 2023
Decked out in a slim-fitting suit, his hair a little shaggier and his face a little craggier than when he first played Lt.
From New York Times ● May 20, 2022
“Seeing Ford that close in person was a revelation — he was a lot skinnier and craggier than I had realized. What they say about cameras adding pounds is accurate.”
From Washington Post ● Aug. 26, 2020
Connery was tempted back to the role with a big pay packet, now looking craggier and toupeed.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 24, 2018
And its hills are loftier, craggier, more difficult and forbidding than Vermont’s.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
It’s a middle-of-the-spectrum, Goldilocks option — not the firmest or the floppiest, neither the silkiest nor the craggiest, but it will slide comfortably on the boards, which have been playing on the slow side.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 11, 2022
Now there are over 500 nationwide, from the flattest states to the craggiest, underlining the health and fitness industry’s embrace of climbing – especially the mental and physical challenge of bouldering.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 16, 2019
Tunnel Creek The Cascades are among the craggiest of American mountain ranges, roughly cut, as if carved with a chain saw.
From New York Times ● Dec. 20, 2012
Them nine men come from th' craggiest outfit of high-toned gun-artists in these parts, an' you can bet that they are th' pick of th' crowd!
From Hopalong Cassidy by Mulford, Clarence E.
Its broad, round, smooth mass is better than the roughest, craggiest, shaggiest, most sharply splintered mountain of them all.
From The Lancashire Witches A Romance of Pendle Forest by Ainsworth, William Harrison
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.
