adjective
-
resembling or covered in scales
-
peeling off in scales
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of scaly
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.
In it, a government scientist discovers that a scaly creature worshiped by island villagers as a sea god has grown to a monstrosity that dwarfs tall buildings.
From Salon • Mar. 20, 2026
"I don't want to alarm anyone but there is a crocodile in the Sheraton pool," TikTok user Lisa Keller said in a video showing the scaly predator.
From Barron's • Oct. 19, 2025
Determined to save her mother, Mae answers a supernatural summons and finds herself entering a cave where the flowers bloom under the bulging eyes of a dragon—a scaly, crimson, undulating monster straight from Chinese folklore.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025
It is characterised by severely dry, red, scaly, and inflamed skin that is highly susceptible to infection and skin cancer.
From BBC • Mar. 11, 2025
She remembered how she had hated the scaly tails of the muskrats, the wild smell of them, and yet did not want to find them caught fast in the traps.
From "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry
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.
