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Synonyms

scruff

1 American  
[skruhf] / skrʌf /

noun

  1. the nape or back of the neck.

scruff 2 American  
[skruhf] / skrʌf /

noun

Metallurgy.

  1. (in tin-plating) dross formed in the bath.

scruff 1 British  
/ skrʌf /

noun

  1. informal an untidy scruffy person

  2. informal a disreputable person, ruffian

  3. another name for scum

"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
scruff 2 British  
/ skrʌf /

noun

  1. the nape of the neck (esp in the phrase by the scruff of the neck )

"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

Etymology

Origin of scruff1

1780–90; variant of dial. scuff, scuft < Dutch schoft horse's withers

Origin of scruff2

Metathetic variant of scurf

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.

After spending the winter in semi-hibernation, he has now been able to re-join Wildwood's other two bears, Fluff and Scruff.

From BBC • May 15, 2025

Perry Street Software, which owns Jack’d and Scruff, said in a statement Thursday that it removed third-party ad networks from Scruff in August 2018 and did the same in Feb. 2020 after it acquired Jack’d.

From Washington Post • Mar. 9, 2023

Scruff had effectively chosen Marshall as his owner when he sat on her lap at an animal shelter, her step-grandmother said.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 14, 2022

The two matched in March 2017 on Scruff.

From New York Times • May 21, 2021

"We have!" exclaimed Salmon P. and Scruff with one voice.

From The Magnetic North by Robins, Elizabeth

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.