scunner
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
verb
-
(intr) to feel aversion
-
(tr) to produce a feeling of aversion in
noun
-
a strong aversion (often in the phrase take a scunner to )
-
an object of dislike; nuisance
Etymology
Origin of scunner
1325–75; Middle English ( Scots ) skunner to shrink back in disgust, equivalent to skurn to flinch (akin to scare ) + -er -er 6, with loss of first r by dissimilation
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.
But polling and the results of council by-elections suggest that Reform has potential in areas which have not been traditionally Conservative, in communities where the "scunner factor" is strongest.
From BBC ● May 7, 2026
They recognise that this "scunner factor" can only take them so far and that setting out their Holyrood policies will invite much closer scrutiny.
From BBC ● Jan. 2, 2026
They seem to be attracting voters who are fed up with more established parties but they acknowledge that this "scunner" factor can only take them so far.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2025
It was known that the President had talked over his Slaughter scunner with National Chairman Bob Hannegan and other Party brass.
From Time Magazine Archive
Whaur she taks a scunner at a body, she hates like the verra deevil.
From Malcolm by MacDonald, George
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.
