scruffy

[ skruhf-ee ]

adjective

, scruff·i·er, scruff·i·est.

1. untidy; shabby.

scruffy

/ ˈskrʌfɪ /

adjective

1. unkempt or shabby

Word History and Origins

Origin of scruffy¹

First recorded in 1650–60; scruff ² + -y ¹

Example Sentences

I grounded the boat onto the first available scruffy gravel bar.

From Outside Online

Compared with more-traditional farms, Kaufman’s plots look somewhat scruffy.

From Washington Post

The highway that links them follows the rail line, four undivided lanes with long, hypnotically straight stretches and no shoulders, just ditches and scruffy pine forest and sandy fields of peanuts.

From Washington Post

The hospital where I work as a research scientist in a synthetic biology lab is vaccinating all its staff, and excited voices from all sorts of people — scruffy graduate students, put-together receptionists — fill the air.

From Vox

All the tots are all well scrubbed and smiling, except for one scruffy little guy who’s giving the finger to the camera.

From Washington Post

There are photos of what looks like a scruffy Californian kid in a T-shirt, taking a break from skateboarding.

From The Daily Beast

They were greeted by the ever-scruffy director, who can be seen in the picture above snapping a shot on his camera phone.

From The Daily Beast

He looks like a dog from an Eastern European circus: a small, scruffy dog who you could imagine balancing on a red ball.

From The Daily Beast

When she came to power in 1978, Britain was a dreary, dreary place: dingy, funereal, abashed, scruffy, feckless.

From The Daily Beast

As for Big Bird, Sesame Street should restore the creature to its scruffy perfection no matter who wins the election.

From The Daily Beast

Related Words

• seedy
• shabby
• tacky
• tattered
• threadbare
• unkempt