as in lame
arousing or deserving of one's loathing and disgust
that's a scabby trick to play on someone trying to help
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Recent Examples of scabby
Wheat can be treated to remove scabby kernels.
—
Tom W. Allen, The Conversation, 12 Nov. 2025
Darken and thicken it for old and scabby goop.
—Mark Hay, Popular Science, 9 Oct. 2025
There were the same cars on the blocks, the clotheslines, and the scabby back yards.
—Jennifer Wilson, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2025
View this post on Instagram Currently wrapped in a somewhat scabby old blanket, with a face mask on, clutching a lukewarm coffee while attempting and failing to get some decent writing done ? Send help.
—Lucy Wood, Marie Claire, 6 Mar. 2019
As buzzy, crowd-pleasing indie comedies got snatched up for millions, the festival's scabby mutant black sheep went untouched, until horror-specific streaming service Shudder stepped in.
—Charles Bramesco, Esquire, 20 July 2017
People walk up and try to grab a sample with dirty, bleeding, scabby hands not realizing that other people will also be sampling that food.
—Abigail Van Buren, Twin Cities, 31 Mar. 2017
Tom W. Allen, The Conversation, 12 Nov. 2025
Darken and thicken it for old and scabby goop.
—Mark Hay, Popular Science, 9 Oct. 2025
There were the same cars on the blocks, the clotheslines, and the scabby back yards.
—Jennifer Wilson, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2025
View this post on Instagram Currently wrapped in a somewhat scabby old blanket, with a face mask on, clutching a lukewarm coffee while attempting and failing to get some decent writing done ? Send help.
—Lucy Wood, Marie Claire, 6 Mar. 2019
As buzzy, crowd-pleasing indie comedies got snatched up for millions, the festival's scabby mutant black sheep went untouched, until horror-specific streaming service Shudder stepped in.
—Charles Bramesco, Esquire, 20 July 2017
People walk up and try to grab a sample with dirty, bleeding, scabby hands not realizing that other people will also be sampling that food.
—Abigail Van Buren, Twin Cities, 31 Mar. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scabby
Adjective
-
The flowers are the best, even if the leaves are lame and flop over.—
Joshua Siskin,
Oc Register,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Cut to Culhane doing lame bits with chopsticks as walrus teeth.—
Gil Kaufman,
Billboard,
24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Here in his pitiful, mini Gaza where reasoning and logic struggle futilely.—
Rosa Lyster,
Harpers Magazine,
6 Jan. 2026
-
Instead Tripp comes across as simultaneously pitiful and predatory, a fine line that Paulson was able to walk straight to the year-round Christmas store.—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
9 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
The checklist for cleaning the kitchen was probably just washing dirty dishes, wiping down countertops, and mopping the floors.—
Elizabeth Brownfield,
Southern Living,
7 Jan. 2026
-
Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty.—
Shagun Khare,
Martha Stewart,
6 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The Chinese retailer, known for its range of cheap ultra-fast-fashion clothing and criticisms of its labor and environmental practices, is nestled on the sixth floor of a more than century-old building in Paris, a city famous for high-end fashion and a recent green push.—
Miranda Jeyaretnam,
Time,
7 Nov. 2025
-
The other side of this has been the money in the industry’s pivot first to cheaper talk shows, which don’t innovate enough to merit much critique, and now to a second pivot to turn those interview shows into video series, which makes podcasts more friendly on TikTok and Instagram and YouTube.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
The growth of passive investing, through index funds found in the 401(k) accounts of average Americans, has propped up the stock market while also potentially setting it up for a nasty fall.—
Mark Dent,
HubSpot,
7 Nov. 2025
-
Instead of this stuff that's raised overseas that's done in ways that doesn't have any checks, that it's got polluted water, it's being fed really nasty stuff, full of antibiotics, full of chemicals.—
Dan Morrison,
USA Today,
7 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Wednesday’s dour stalemate with Leeds United at Anfield represented a wretched start to 2026.—
James Pearce,
New York Times,
2 Jan. 2026
-
This wretched regime is doomed to be overthrown by the risen populace and rebellious youth.—
Efrat Lachter,
FOXNews.com,
1 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
By modern standards, kind of disgusting.—
Glenn Garner,
Deadline,
7 Nov. 2025
-
But stepping into that closet was really disgusting.—
Lauren Huff,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Pelosi is mean-spirited and vindictive.—
Joe Battenfeld,
Boston Herald,
8 Nov. 2025
-
Protecting her peace proved more difficult, however, when the Queen of Rap began firing off increasingly mean-spirited posts about her on X this past summer.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
6 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Scabby.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scabby. Accessed 8 Jan. 2026.
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