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Glite Dictionary
stubbly

stubbly

2 4.4
Having short, rough hairs that feel prickly on the skin
  • adjective
  • /ˈstʌbli/
translation icon : con barba de tres días
  • His face was covered in stubbly hair after not shaving for a few days.
  • stubbly chin
  • stubbly beard
  • stubbly face

Where if you close your eyes and push your face you can feel his stubbly jowls.

Examples

  • Where if you close your eyes and push your face you can feel his stubbly jowls.

    Harvard University

  • The skin on his face is knobby like tree bark, pocked and stubbly with wiry black hair.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Alex rubbed his stubbly chin.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • His chin was stubbly.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Miyake scratched his stubbly cheeks with the flat of his hand.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • I'm looking at a color photo of George now, with his dark blue rakish hat and lemon yellow jacket, butterscotch eyes and stubbly chin.

    Academic text (2007)

  • He laid a stubbly cheek on Fronto's nose.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • She touches her own face, remembering the stubbly dampness of his skin, the scent of his talc.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • He yawns loudly and rubs his thick-featured, stubbly face as he watches me drape suits over a chair, continuing to pick out clothes for the office.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • She loved the rough texture of his stubbly beard against her skin.

Synonyms

stubbled
vsstubbly
1 6.0

Having short rough hair on the face after not shaving

is the same meaning but focuses on the bristly texture
bestubbled
vsstubbly
  • Archaic
8.2

Having short, rough hair on the face after not shaving

is the same meaning but stresses being covered rather than just growth

Antonyms

clean-shaven
12 3.5

A person with no hair on the face, like on the chin and cheeks

How Bearded

bearded
52 1.0
stubbly
2 4.4
clean-shaven
12 3.5

Surface Forms

stubbly positive

Morphology

stubbly = stubble (transparent) = stubble + y

Formed by adding the adjectival suffix '-y' to the noun 'stubble' (orthographic adjustment only), so the meaning 'having stubble' is directly predictable.

Etymology

Stubbly comes from stubble, a word that once meant the 'stump left after cutting' plants. So something stubbly has 'short, bristly hair' that looks like many tiny stumps, which is why we use it for a short, rough growth on a chin or leg.