scurrilous

adjective scur·ri·lous \ ˈskər-ə-ləs , ˈskə-rə- \

Definition of scurrilous

1 a : using or given to coarse language

b : vulgar and evil

scurrilous imposters who used a religious exterior to rob poor people
—Edwin Benson

2 : containing obscenities, abuse, or slander

scurrilous accusations

—

scurrilously

adverb

—

scurrilousness

noun

See scurrilous defined for English-language learners

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scurrilous was our Word of the Day on 11/30/2017. Hear the podcast!

Examples of scurrilous in a Sentence

scurrilous attacks on the senator
a scurrilous satire on the scandal that enveloped Washington

Recent Examples of scurrilous from the Web

Implausible, scurrilous and unsupported allegations are not reportable, but a government official making public reference to such allegations is reportable.

— holman w. jenkins, WSJ, "The Trump Dossier Dam Is Breaking," 27 Oct. 2017
Of course, once these scurrilous claims hit the public sphere, other brain deads pick up the mantle.

— angela helm, The Root, "Fringe Media Outlets Smear Heather Heyer, Alleging She Died By Heart Attack, Not a Raging White Supremacist," 10 Sep. 2017
Scurrilous rumors that McMaster has a drinking problem floated around the periphery.

— tina nguyen, The Hive, "Inside the Plot to Oust Steve Bannon," 17 Aug. 2017
Antifa becomes merely a radical adjunct to traditional Democratic-party politics; the alt-right becomes merely a useful tool for scurrilous Republican politicians and media figures.

— ben shapiro, National Review, "Antifa and the Alt-Right, Growing in Opposition to One Another," 15 Aug. 2017
The reaction to the Kathy Griffin photograph is encouraging; the success of the more scurrilous late-night talk show hosts, and Trump's continuing unpresidential blogging, is not.

— julian e. zelizer, The Atlantic, "Is It Time for the U.S. to Rein in the Presidency?," 9 June 2017
And a set of rules, rather than restraining the guest’s experience, is meant to help guide that guest, and everyone else, through a pleasant evening accompanied by the gentle clink of glasses rather than a scurrilous roar.

— eric alperin and deborah stoll, latimes.com, "Behind the bar: Why it's not OK to drink too much and talk too loudly at this L.A. bartender's bar," 31 May 2017
Trump’s team has dismissed the dossier as entirely scurrilous.

— laurence arnold, Bloomberg.com, "Your Guide to the Russia Investigations," 9 May 2017
His longstanding and intimate links to the scurrilous press is not just one of his quirks, but integral to his political identity.

— jeet heer, New Republic, "Donald Trump and the Weaponization of Gossip," 3 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'scurrilous.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of scurrilous

1576

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

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scurrilous Synonyms

Synonyms

abusive, invective, opprobrious, truculent, vitriolic, vituperative, vituperatory;

Near Antonyms

moderate, temperate;

deferential, respectful;

civil, courteous, gracious, mannerly, polite;

discreet, judicious, tempered;

laudatory, praiseful;

coarse, crude, dirty, filthy, foul, foulmouthed, gross, indecent, nasty, obscene, potty-mouthed, vulgar;

contemptuous, disdainful, scornful;

defamatory, libelous (or libellous), scandalous, slanderous;

maligning, traducing, vilifying;

hateful, malevolent, malicious, spiteful;

immoderate, intemperate, unbridled, unrestrained;

SCURRILOUS Defined for English Language Learners

scurrilous

adjective

Definition of scurrilous for English Language Learners

: said or done unfairly to make people have a bad opinion of someone

Learn More about scurrilous

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scurrilous

Definition of scurrilous

scurrilously

scurrilousness

scurrilous was our Word of the Day on 11/30/2017. Hear the podcast!

Examples of scurrilous in a Sentence

Recent Examples of scurrilous from the Web

First Known Use of scurrilous

scurrilous Synonyms

Synonyms

Near Antonyms

Related Words

SCURRILOUS Defined for English Language Learners

scurrilous

Definition of scurrilous for English Language Learners

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