scurrilous
Americanadjective
-
grossly or obscenely abusive.
a scurrilous attack on the mayor.
- Synonyms:
- offensive, insulting, vituperative
-
characterized by or using low buffoonery; coarsely jocular or derisive.
a scurrilous jest.
- Synonyms:
- vulgar
adjective
-
grossly or obscenely abusive or defamatory
-
characterized by gross or obscene humour
Other Word Forms
- scurrility noun
- scurrilously adverb
- scurrilousness noun
Etymology
Origin of scurrilous
Explanation
If something is scurrilous, it's meant to offend. Scurrilous rumors can give you a bad reputation, and scurrilous stories sell tabloid magazines. If you say something scurrilous about someone, your intentions are bad: you mean to damage their reputation or insult them (or quite possibly both). Writing an article for the school newspaper in which you claim that your math teacher has a secret life as a circus clown could be seen as a scurrilous attack, unless she proudly moonlights entertaining kids with her juggling skills. This adjective comes from the Latin scurrilis, "buffoonlike."
Vocabulary lists containing scurrilous
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The Scarlet Letter
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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.
Little did I know that “older couple” was to become “old couple,” a term that seemed to be repeated incessantly, at least to my Gen X ears not yet accustomed to scurrilous millennial attacks!
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 12, 2026
But Prime Minister Keir Starmer vehemently denied the accusations in parliament as "a red herring" and "completely scurrilous".
From Barron's • Dec. 3, 2025
“This civil lawsuit based upon 30-plus-year-old allegations is filled with scurrilous lies, exaggerations and misrepresentations regarding Linda McMahon,” she said.
From Salon • Nov. 22, 2024
That’s an understandable impulse—especially since Elon Musk has restored the accounts of scurrilous wrongdoers who’d previously broken Twitter rules, while other social media giants, like Facebook and Instagram, are ill-advisedly relaxing their content-moderation standards.
From Slate • Aug. 14, 2024
Poetry and drama were deeply involved in networks of patronage: praise-poems, sucky-up dedications, scurrilous broadsides, and vicious “flytings” of one’s rivals.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
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.
