scraggly
9
6.0
- adjective
- /ˈskræɡli/
:
desaliñado
- It looked like a giant with long, scraggly hair.
- scraggly beard
- scraggly hair
- scraggly bush
He had long, scraggly hair, big white beard.
- He had long, scraggly hair, big white beard.
- He sees it, but you don't want to scare people with your scraggly beard.
- So the question was, are my carrots still edible even if they're all forked and scraggly?
- I think they start to look scraggly and dry and kind of unkept looking a little bit.
- And even though what we see here is a bunch of like these weeping scraggly branches, it's quite like loose and kind of shrubby like this.
Examples
-
In the corners were a few scraggly plants of the sort that adorn hotel lobbies.
Fiction book (1992) -
I just love this whole area minus the scraggly stems over there.
-
No, it's scraggly and green.
-
The cattle lie under a few scraggly trees to be out of the sun.
Fiction book (1997) -
I think they start to look scraggly and dry and kind of unkept looking a little bit.
-
The guy was short, with a scraggly head of long black hair and an equally unkempt beard.
Fiction book (1991) -
The girl turned unhesitatingly inland, trotting up through the scraggly spring grass toward the forested ridge above the cottage.
Fiction book (1994) -
Mondlane's boyhood was spent looking after sheep, goats, and cattle in the scraggly fields and meadows.
Academic text (1992) -
Dunn's chihuahualike pate sported an astounding toupee of scraggly dreadlocks hanging down his back.
Fiction book (2001) -
The plant has a scraggly appearance, with uneven, rough branches growing in all directions.
Synonyms
298
1.3
Very thin in a way that looks unhealthy
42
2.3
Not smooth or level, with parts higher and lower
40
4.2
Very thin and weak in a way that looks unhealthy
30
2.5
So thin that you can see the bones under the skin
23
3.8
Messy and untidy in clothes or appearance
21
3.5
An uneven edge or outline that is not smooth
12
4.0
Something that looks worn, torn, and messy
11
3.7
Not the same quality in all parts
2
6.5
Having long, loose parts that look untidy, like hair or bushes
1
7.7
Dirty and untidy in appearance
Rough and uneven with many jagged edges
Messy and jumbled so people cannot understand it
Spread out in an untidy, scattered way, like houses far from a village
Land that is rough and thinly covered with short bushes and small plants
A surface that is uneven and feels rough to touch
An object that has an uneven or irregular shape
A person or thing that looks awkward and not pleasing to the eye
Having hair or fabric that is messy and stuck together in clumps
Shaggy and dirty, with clumps of dried mud or hair stuck to it
Thin so you can see or feel the bones
Antonyms
How Untidy
Surface Forms
Morphology
scraggly = scrag (semi-transparent) = scrag + y
The adjective is derived from 'scrag' with the productive adjectival suffix '-y' (giving 'scraggy'); the meaning 'thin/untidy' follows, but the base 'scrag' is relatively uncommon and orthographic variants (scraggy/scraggly) exist, which may reduce immediate recognizability for learners.
Etymology
Scraggly comes from the old word scrag, which meant a 'thin' or 'rough' piece or a scrawny person. So, something scraggly looks thin, uneven, and untidy, with rough bits sticking out.