scrofulous
Americanadjective
-
of, relating to, resembling, or having scrofula
-
morally degraded
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of scrofulous
First recorded in 1605–15; scroful(a) + -ous
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.
The critic Elizabeth Hardwick called biography “a scrofulous cottage industry,” adding that it was rarely redeemed by “some equity between the subject and the author.”
From New York Times ● Nov. 3, 2021
But there was nevertheless a certain suggestion of holding court: visitors queued up to be transformed by art, like the scrofulous awaiting the king’s touch.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 20, 2017
Characters communicate through coded riddles and secret messages; they write pulp fiction with titles "BIEHXIXHEIB" and "The Principatrix of Gnawledge" and the narrative is littered with words like "scrofulous" and "querelophone."
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2016
Giant catfish and other Amazon delicacies slopped in buckets amid scrofulous dogs by the dozen begging for scraps.
From New York Times ● Sep. 13, 2013
Darlene put the cage on the bar and uncovered a huge, scrofulous rose cockatoo that looked, like a used car, as if it had passed through the hands of many owners.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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.
