scruffy
Americanadjective
-
scruffier,
comparative
-
scruffiest
superlative
adjective
Other Word Forms
Adjective Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of scruffy
Vocabulary lists containing scruffy
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:
Steffi Cao investigates a billionaire’s scruffy makeover, and explores why Silicon Valley’s power players are styling themselves to appear harmless.
From Slate ● Oct. 5, 2026
I wash and wear the same bike clothes for months—no temptation to buy new outfits—and we’re too scruffy for fancy restaurants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Halfway into my second drink, a scruffy, tall guy with silvery blond hair from New York sat down next to me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
Indiana is in many ways a liminal state, the place you pass through between scruffy Cleveland and business-like Chicago, with little to inspire romantic odes to home.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026
I only have to pass a few gates to reach the scruffy field called the Meadow.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
“Drive-Away Dolls” might suggest a return to a scruffier sensibility.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 20, 2024
They pit establishment power against a new, scruffier and perhaps more vital power.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 25, 2023
The mug shot posted by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office appears to show the same person as in the shot posted on Mr. Jurgens’ LinkedIn account, although he looks considerably scruffier in the arrest photo.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 6, 2023
Lizzy plods across a scruffier, more Bohemian outpost of the same nonprofit cultural system.
From New York Times ● Sep. 29, 2022
In the ’70s, when I was in high school, I feel like it was the scruffier, surfer/skier kids who wore them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2018
She remembered being staggered by the size and opulence of the home, while Sullivan was at his desk "wearing the scruffiest tracksuit".
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026
In the early days of their rise, the Stones were the most notorious, scruffiest band of hit-makers in the U.K., where one tabloid headline famously asked, “Would you let your daughter marry a Rolling Stone?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2019
Wild” has been on the air since 2006, he insists he hired a publicist last year “so I don’t have to do P.R.,” and that he’s “still always the scruffiest person at any meeting.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 2012
For an hour and 13 minutes the converted Russian tuna boat chased one of the mightiest ships of the Seventh Fleet; in turn, it was chased by one of the scruffiest vessels in the U.S.
From Time Magazine Archive
She looked down and saw the scruffiest face looking back, a small dog that apparently had been assembled from leftover dog parts.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
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