adjective
-
roughened because of small projections; scaly
-
indelicate, indecent, or salacious
scabrous humour
-
difficult to deal with; knotty
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of scabrous
1575–85; < Latin scab ( e ) r rough + -ous
Explanation
The word scabrous can describe anything that's bumpy and coarse, like your pet iguana or the rough stucco walls in your parents' house. The adjective scabrous is also used to describe things that are considered lewd or obscene, like a scabrous newspaper cartoon that manages to offend everyone who sees it. The Latin root, scaber, means "rough and scaly," and is closely related to scabere, "to scrape."
Vocabulary lists containing scabrous
Crispin: The Cross of Lead
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Fablehaven
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Dune
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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.
Scabrous, painful and true, it tracks a high school senior who, in his ambitions to be a comic-book artist of the highest, purest order, steamrollers over nearly everyone in his life.
From New York Times • Aug. 25, 2022
Scabrous and unrelentingly hilarious, “Squeeze Me” demonstrates that the Trump era is truly Hiaasen’s moment.
From Washington Post • Nov. 18, 2020
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.
