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• scarry
  scarry

  adjective

  marked with the scars of wounds.
• Scarry
  Scarry

  noun

  Richard McClure, 1919–94, U.S. author and illustrator of children's books.

scarry

¹ American  

[skahr-ee] / ˈskɑr i /

adjective

scarrier, scarriest

1. marked with the scars of wounds.

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scarry ² American  

[skahr-ee] / ˈskɑr i /

adjective

1. full of precipitous, rocky places.

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Scarry ³ American  

[skahr-ee] / ˈskɑr i /

noun

1. Richard McClure, 1919–94, U.S. author and illustrator of children's books.

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Etymology

Origin of scarry¹

First recorded in 1645–55; scar ¹ + -y ¹

Origin of scarry²

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at scar ², -y ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

scarry Scarry scarriest

No gently graduated steps lead up to them: they are upon us with the violent abruptness of a streak of lightning, and like this, they, too, may leave behind them a scarry trace.

From Maurice Guest by Richardson, Henry Handel

They tell how they would ride at night and how scarry lookin' they was.

From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Arkansas Narratives, Part 5 by Work Projects Administration

In that past she has invoked Lowly Worm, the Richard Scarry children’s book character, to walk through how tariffs ripple into inflation.

From Barron's ● Mar. 13, 2026

The exhibition also includes murals featuring familiar childhood imagery: One is an illustration of an enormous traffic accident by children’s book author Richard Scarry.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 16, 2026

Carlson and Scarry go on to decry the pox of representation in pop culture.

From Slate ● Apr. 24, 2023

It’s probably too much to hope that Scarry will eat his words.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 2, 2022

However it had come about, poor Scarry had indubitably been put into the earth face downward.

From The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce — Volume 2: In the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians by Bierce, Ambrose

I’ve seen landsmen both on board ship and ashore who could give points in that line to the scarriest old Jack-tar who ever munched salt horse, and knock him hollow at that.”

From The Red Derelict by Mitford, Bertram