Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for scabby. Search instead for scabbier.
Synonyms

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.


scabby British  
/ ˈskæbɪ /

adjective

  1. pathol having an area of the skin covered with scabs

  2. obsolete pathol having scabies

  3. informal despicable

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of scabby

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

Vocabulary lists containing scabby

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:

Some days were clean, and then some days he was scabby and flaking.

From Los Angeles Times Feb. 5, 2025

"It was a busy weekend and there were a lot of people ready for a day out. There was me, absolutely stinking, wheeling this box and eating bits of scabby old sandwich."

From BBC Jan. 16, 2023

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

They have snotty noses and sore eyes and scabby knees.

From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt

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 Caine, Hall, Sir

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training