scaly

[ skey-lee ]

/ ˈskeɪ li /

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See synonyms for scaly on Thesaurus.com

adjective, scal·i·er, scal·i·est.

covered with or abounding in scales or scale.

characterized by or consisting of scales; scalelike.

peeling or flaking off in scales.

Slang. shabby; despicable.

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SHALL WE PLAY A "SHALL" VS. "SHOULD" CHALLENGE?

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Question 1 of 6

Which form is used to state an obligation or duty someone has?

shall

should

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Origin of scaly

First recorded in 1520–30; scale¹ + -y¹

OTHER WORDS FROM scaly

scal·i·ness, nounun·scal·y, adjective

Words nearby scaly

scalpel, scalping, scalp lock, scalpriform, scalprum, scaly, scaly anteater, scam, Scamander, scambaiting, scamillus

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use scaly in a sentence

The frigid Irish sea seems to have kept these scaly invaders at bay, since no one has ever found serpentine fossils in the country.
A guide to all the places with no snakes|empire|August 13, 2021|Popular-Science
However, a study published this month in Current Biology has begun to unravel some of these scaly critters’ secrets.
These ancient deep-sea fish can live five times as long as biologists expected|Sara Kiley Watson|June 25, 2021|Popular-Science
While lizards have dry, scaly skin, salamanders typically have to keep their skin moist, and some spend their entire lives in water.
Salamanders have a secret to surviving climate change|Benji Jones|June 17, 2021|Vox
Owning anything furry, scaly or feathery has always seemed to me like a lot of work, a lot of noise and a lot of mess.
I never liked animals. Then I got a pandemic pet bunny.|Sarah Garone|April 2, 2021|Washington Post

Since its founding in 2014, the rescue center has saved more than 1,300 pangolins and returned 60 percent of the scaly mammals to the wild.
A virtual menagerie: How conservation and rescue efforts can connect us with wildlife around the world|Andrea Sachs|January 15, 2021|Washington Post
Even bullets will fly off from any other part of the scaly covering as though they had struck against a stone wall.
Alila, Our Little Philippine Cousin|Mary Hazelton Wade
Its scaly body wound about her boot, the flat head swaying from side to side, was a huge rattlesnake.
The Adventure Girls at K Bar O|Clair Blank
Some have, indeed, confounded the scaly lizards of the East Indies with the armadillos of America.
Buffon's Natural History. Volume VII (of 10)|Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon
The tail was covered with hair for two or three inches from the beginning, and the rest of it with a smooth scaly skin to the end.
Buffon's Natural History. Volume VII (of 10)|Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon
Indeed, you could as little get hold of Chopin as, to use L. Enault's expression, of the scaly back of a siren.
Frederick Chopin as a Man and Musician|Frederick Niecks

British Dictionary definitions for scaly

scaly

/ (ˈskeɪlɪ) /

adjective scalier or scaliest

resembling or covered in scales

peeling off in scales

Derived forms of scaly

scaliness, noun

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

Medical definitions for scaly

scaly

[ skā′lē ]

adj.

Covered or partially covered with scales.

Shedding scales or flakes; flaking.

scaly

Origin of scaly

OTHER WORDS FROM scaly

Words nearby scaly

Words related to scaly

How to use scaly in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for scaly

Derived forms of scaly

Medical definitions for scaly