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

"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

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

“Also potatoes that resist bacterial scab. I’m sick and tired of getting scabby potatoes. The purple tomato — I would try that in a heartbeat.”

From New York Times ● Jul. 20, 2021

I caught a glimpse of ruined bungalows and scabby pastures, and at a hill-like dump, a pack of dogs tearing at garbage.

From Slate ● Dec. 29, 2020

After that he could organize lessons under the courtyard’s scabby mango, teaching literacy to any guard or fellow prisoner who felt like improving himself on a given day.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

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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