mangy
Americanadjective
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having, caused by, or like the mange.
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a mangy trick.
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a mangy little suburb.
adjective
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having or caused by mange
a mangy dog
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scruffy or shabby
a mangy carpet
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informal stingy or miserly
a mangy reward
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of mangy
Explanation
Imagine something really disgusting — crusty, dirty, falling apart — you know, like zombie flesh. If it’s shoddy, gross, and really, really cruddy, it can be called mangy. If you want a really insulting adjective, you can’t do better than the word mangy. A mangy dog has a skin disease carried by mites that causes the animal to lose its hair and develop crusty patches on its body. Or, if you own a mangy sweater, it is probably threadbare and stained. As you can imagine, you should probably think twice before calling a person mangy!
Vocabulary lists containing mangy
The Jungle Book
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The Help
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Guts
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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.
He detonates narrative warfare wherever he goes, so it’s difficult to decipher what is planted to create spectacle to feed the mangy cult and what is a true trash fire of a human.
From Salon • Mar. 12, 2024
In front of us was a derelict baseball diamond and mangy grass fields.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2024
The women wear black slips, combat boots and mangy fur coats; the men, gray suits and conservatively wide ties.
From New York Times • May 21, 2023
An older couple walking by once commented that it looked mangy.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 10, 2022
It might seem like a shelter from the storm, but it really was another asylum packed with a bunch of mangy orphans ready to filch my last possessions while I slept.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
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.
