scrubby

[ skruhb-ee ]

/ ˈskrʌb i /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR scrubby ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, scrub·bi·er, scrub·bi·est.

low or stunted, as trees.

consisting of or covered with scrub, stunted trees, etc.

undersized or inferior, as animals.

wretched; shabby.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

scrub-bird, scrub-up, scrubbed, scrubber, scrubboard, scrubby, scrubdown, scrubland, scrubs, scrubwoman, scruff

Origin of scrubby

First recorded in 1745–55; scrub² + -y¹

Related formsscrub·bi·ly, adverbscrub·bi·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for scrubby

There is one scrubby little orange kitten who is arguably the luckiest creature on Earth.
‘Bones’ Creator Hart Hanson on Working with Michael Clarke Duncan|Hart Hanson|September 4, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Why has so much attention been given to this tiny, miserable village and its scrubby little patch of land?
Susiya: A Human Rights Calamity|Kathleen Peratis|August 9, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Who is that common-looking little man with the scrubby beard, and the very yellow gloves—how does he come to be here?
Voces Populi|F. Anstey
They are usually seen at low elevations in scrubby underbrush.
Bird Guide: Land Birds East of the Rockies|Chester A. (Chester Albert) Reed

You will meet with these Buntings along roadsides lined with scrubby trees or bushes, or in pastures or along the edges of swamps.
Bird Guide: Land Birds East of the Rockies|Chester A. (Chester Albert) Reed
And he is all scrubby and tobacco-ey, and I won't have him for an uncle,' cried Primrose.
Beechcroft at Rockstone|Charlotte M. Yonge
Around us a little while ago stretched a scrubby, gloomy forest, but it is now magnificent and cheerful.
The Masters of the Peaks|Joseph A. Altsheler

British Dictionary definitions for scrubby

scrubby

/ (ˈskrʌbɪ) /

adjective -bier or -biest

covered with or consisting of scrub

(of trees or vegetation) stunted in growth

British informal messy

Derived Formsscrubbiness, 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

Word Origin and History for scrubby

scrubby

adj.

"stunted, inferior, shabby," 1590s; see scrub (n.) + -y (2). Meaning "covered with scrub" is from 1670s. Related: Scrubbiness.