straggly
- adjective
- /ˈstræɡli/
- The dog had a straggly coat that needed a good grooming to look presentable.
- straggly hair
- straggly beard
- straggly grass
Examples
-
Swenson is a sour-faced man with a straggly beard and an Army private's burr haircut.
Fiction book (2001) -
Gotta do something about these straggly flower beds too.
-
She's got straggly hair all the time.
-
He was very small and old, with straggly silver hair and a beard.
Fiction book (1993) -
A straggly birch with dark branches did not stir.
Fiction book (2001) -
Charlotte turned to see a straggly fellow with one of those never-trimmed beards that make a man look insane.
Fiction book (1998) -
Looking out at the trail before them, she sighed, seeing only the thick bushes and straggly trees that crowded the marsh.
Fiction book (1991) -
Frances Markasian was in her early twenties, wore no makeup, and had straggly black hair that fell limply to the shoulders of her denim jacket.
Fiction book (1993) -
The garden was filled with straggly weeds that seemed to grow haphazardly among the flowers.
-
After a storm, the paths were lined with straggly branches that had fallen from the trees.
Synonyms
Present in small numbers or amounts
Spreading out over a large area in an untidy way like a city or tree branches
Thin and untidy in appearance, often with rough, uneven ends
Twisted together in a messy mass that is hard to separate
Twisting and spreading out in many directions like a path or stream
Not in order and difficult to understand or use
Spreading out in an untidy way across a wide area, like a town or handwriting
Spread out in an untidy, scattered way, like houses far from a village
Rough and uneven with many jagged edges
Land that is rough and thinly covered with short bushes and small plants
Having small clumps of hair, fur, or grass
Having many small clumps of grass that stick up
Antonyms
How Straggly
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Straggly comes from the verb straggle, which is like stray meaning 'to wander'. Think of hair or bushes 'wandering' in thin, messy bits away from the main shape, so straggly means growing or spreading in an untidy, scattered way.