strewn

Also strewed

[stroon]

adjective

1. covered or overspread with something scattered or sprinkled (used in combination).

   We saw men, women, and children scavenging for recyclables, both in the actual dump site and along the garbage-strewn streets of the city.

2. dropped in separate pieces or particles over a surface; scattered.

   The dancers led a candlelight procession through the district, following a path of strewn marigold petals.

verb

1. a past participle of strew.

Other Word Forms

• unstrewed adjective
• unstrewn adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of strewn¹

First recorded in 1610–20 as a verb, and in 1725–35 as an adjective

Example Sentences

A tour of the home given to Rai showed a wood-burning stove in a kitchen, colourful children's beds covered with stuffed animals, and Christmas lights strewn about the home.

Read more on Barron's

“Expensive Basketball” is an encyclopedic romp through hoops history, footnotes strewn throughout like so many perimeter ball screens, threads blissfully unconnected.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

I watch it investigate the pizza scraps strewn across the ground.

Read more on Literature

It was a riot of floral patterns, soft carpets, and comfortable furniture strewn with pillows, nothing like the formal, antique-filled rooms upstairs.

Read more on Literature

We spent the entire night sifting through our belongings, which the firemen had strewn around the bedroom or had gotten wet as they’d tried to fight the fire.

Read more on Literature

Related Words

• intermittent 
• isolated 
• occasional 
• sporadic