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shaggily

shaggily

6.4
In a messy way with long, thick hair or fur
  • adverb
  • /ˈʃæɡɪli/
translation icon : desaliñadamente
  • The untended garden grew shaggily, with weeds and wildflowers intertwining throughout.

Examples

  • Coming up abreast, the car rolled backward like a toy as the Russian crew cuts bobbed, victorious, and Benjamin and Rik toiled shaggily along.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • The dog's fur fell shaggily across the floor after it shed in the summer heat.

  • Her hair hung shaggily around her face, making her look like she had just woken up.

Synonyms

shabbily
vsshaggily
1 4.4

In a way that looks old and not cared for

is messy or rough in appearance not mainly about wear or damage
scruffily
vsshaggily
4.1

In a messy, untidy way, especially about clothes or hair

is rough and untidy in overall look not limited to clothing

How Shaggy

shaggily
6.4
messily
1 1.4
tidily
2 1.6

Surface Forms

shaggily positive

Morphology

shaggily = shaggy (transparent) = shaggy + ly

Formed by adding the regular adverbial suffix '-ly' to the adjective 'shaggy', so the meaning is directly derived.

Etymology

The word shaggily comes from shaggy, an old word for a 'tuft' or rough hair, plus the adverb ending -ly. Think of a shaggy dog or a shag carpet with long loose hair to remember it means 'in a rough, untidy way'.