scrappy
1 Americanadjective
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scrappier,
comparative
-
scrappiest
superlative
adjective
-
scrappier,
comparative
-
scrappiest
superlative
-
inclined to fight, argue, or compete; aggressive: Having to defend itself against a giant corporation gave the new company a reputation as a scrappy contender.
Badgers are such scrappy fighters that coyotes will team up with them out of fear of being eaten by them.
Having to defend itself against a giant corporation gave the new company a reputation as a scrappy contender.
-
having or showing spirit and determination, especially in spite of obstacles.
This era formed dozens of legends—strong-willed, scrappy survivors whose faith in their cause was unshakable.
adjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of scrappy1
First recorded in 1830–40; scrap 1 + -y 1
Origin of scrappy2
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:
The checkouts cooled but Smith won a succession of scrappy legs to seal victory as Price's game deserted him.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
Four minutes later, Cameron Hanekom scooped up scrappy ball to put the result beyond doubt and render replacement Beauden Barrett's late try only a footnote.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
McKeen recalled how he and other farmers at the time would pitch restaurants on serving fresh oysters, while simultaneously developing a scrappy style of aquaculture to propagate them in the Damariscotta.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026
Thankfully, public outcry and a scrappy indie distributor saved “Coyote vs. Acme” from oblivion after Warner Bros. allowed its makers to shop the movie around.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
Cora pictured her, scrappy and determined, a survivor of famine and the hard relocation.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
Serrano started strongly with sharp body work and accurate left hands from her southpaw stance, before the contest developed into a scrappier affair than expected.
From BBC ● Jan. 4, 2026
Verizon needs to become scrappier and less bureaucratic, Schulman said at a WSJ Leadership Institute event this week.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
Olsen: Your background is kind of in independent film and on “PEN15,” which is kind of a scrappier show.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2024
But what I found was that Black newsrooms, because we often had smaller budgets, we were scrappier.
From Salon ● Mar. 16, 2024
"Doug, am I any scrappier than the rest of them?"
From Judith of the Godless Valley by Honoré Morrow
This is the probably the scrappiest I had to be since "Colma: The Musical."
From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2023
It was a long week of matches, featuring some of the scrappiest Overwatch I’ve seen this season.
From The Verge ● Jul. 25, 2022
But Charlie Brown opted, instead, for the scrappiest of green trees, throwing shade to artifice and commercialism and embracing authenticity and the true spirit of Christmas.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 13, 2019
The scrappiest of the three new parks, it is, at the moment, also my favorite.
From New York Times ● Aug. 9, 2018
Some of them are exquisite, many are large, and even the scrappiest have an artful understanding, in the interest of colour, with the waterways that edge their foundations.
From Italian Hours by Henry James
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.
