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scratchy

scratchy

8 3.2
Rough on the skin and slightly irritating
  • adjective
  • /ˈskrætʃi/
translation icon : que pica
  • After sitting on the scratchy carpet for an hour, my knees felt irritated.
  • scratchy wool
  • a scratchy blanket
  • a scratchy feel

The thing is generic T-shirts, they're scratchy, they don't feel good.

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Examples

  • The wool sweater was so scratchy that I couldn’t wear it for long.

  • He complained that the scratchy fabric of the blanket made him uncomfortable.

  • But looking at it, it's like the skin is so scratchy and rough and gross.

  • And then the top is like a super scratchy thin cotton.

  • One side is slightly soft and then the other side is really quite scratchy and exfoliating.

  • My mother and I always sat right up front, on a scratchy wool blanket.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • Yes, but these towels are very fancy, and cheaper hotels have scratchy towels.

  • I took the scratchy old towel she handed me and wiped my back dry.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • The sheets feel scratchy.

Synonyms

itchy
vsscratchy
45 1.0

A feeling on the skin that makes you want to scratch

causes mild skin irritation when touched or rubbed
abrasive
vsscratchy
6 4.8

Able to wear away surfaces when rubbed

causes slight skin abrasion or irritation rather than strong wearing
sandpapery
vsscratchy
7.0

Feels rough and slightly scratchy when you touch it

is milder and focuses on slight skin irritation when rubbed
rough-textured
vsscratchy
3.7

A surface that feels bumpy or not smooth to the touch

causes a small skin irritation specifically when touched or rubbed
coarse-textured
vsscratchy
4.9

Having a rough surface that feels slightly scratchy

is concerned with slight skin abrasion or irritation on contact

Antonyms

256 1.0

A surface that is even and not rough

How Abrasive

abrasive
6 4.8
scratchy
8 3.2
rough
164 1.0
textured
13 4.1
smooth
256 1.0

Surface Forms

scratchy positive

Morphology

scratchy = scratch (transparent) = scratch + y

Directly describes the tactile quality 'causing or like a scratch'—a transparent adjectival derivation from 'scratch'.

Etymology

Scratchy comes from scratch, meaning 'to scrape', so it describes something that rubs the skin in a small, uncomfortable way. That is why a scratchy fabric or label feels rough and can irritate your skin.