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

• scabbily adverb
• scabbiness noun

Etymology

Origin of scabby

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

Example Sentences

Something is genuinely off about the goings-on at the conference, from strange deaths and elevators that suddenly aren’t elevators, to a rash of scabby infections afflicting guests and the discovery of a subterranean tunnel.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 11, 2024

"My daughter has a rash across her leg, which is scabby and itchy, and my eldest has anxiety and worries constantly about the mould."

From BBC • Feb. 2, 2024

Shoggoths are hideous to look at — pale, bulbous, covered in scabby, asymmetric eyes — and deadly to encounter, with concentric rows of gnarled teeth that turn trespassers into tartare.

From New York Times • Oct. 5, 2020

Scratching your bow and scratching your scabby elbows!

From The New Yorker • Feb. 25, 2019

Just white scabby dust on the tops of their feet, and all of them with those dark black sores and scars.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver