scabby

adjective

ˈska-bē How to pronounce scabby (audio)
Definition of scabbynext
as in lame
arousing or deserving of one's loathing and disgust that's a scabby trick to play on someone trying to help

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of scabby One of the most common is apple scab, which is a fungal disease that causes dark, scabby spots to appear on the leaves and fruit. — Helena Madden, Martha Stewart, 31 May 2026 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 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
  1. lame
  2. pitiful
  3. dirty
  4. cheap
  5. nasty
  6. wretched
  7. disgusting
  8. mean
Adjective
  • Supporters hope for a vote during the post-election lame-duck session, potentially as part of a year-end package.
    — Shira Lazar, Washington Post, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Even as Swift shines in the light of holy matrimony, there are still plenty of lame dudes out there for Taylor to crush across three-minute pop masterstrokes — and, God-willing, there always will be.
    — Jason Lipshutz, Billboard, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of lame
Adjective
  • Completing the hat trick in pitiful style, Taking on the World was shot on a shoestring budget, helmed by the man behind Highlander III, and forced to rely on stock footage of real-life footballers.
    — Jon O'Brien, Vulture, 26 June 2026
  • Given the national team’s pitiful demise at the Oval, with New Zealand completing victory on the fifth morning, Ben Stokes’ revival in absentia feels like the only consolation from a miserable week.
    — Hector Vickers, New York Times, 21 June 2026
Definition of pitiful
Adjective
  • At almost any hour, someone is settling in for a caffeine fix, a glass of wine, or one more dirty martini.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Muddy kids’ clothes, workwear or especially dirty towels can benefit from the extra thermal energy that helps detergent loosen and lift ground-in soil.
    — Ryan Brennan, Sacbee.com, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of dirty
Adjective
  • The question should be how technology can make returning it cheap enough that the government no longer has an excuse.
    — Mark Lewyn, Hartford Courant, 2 Oct. 2026
  • The company on Tuesday introduced an upgrade to its cheaper, mid-tier GPT-6 Sol model.
    — Nicholas Wu, semafor.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of cheap
Adjective
  • Rather, the couple’s beloved dog, Lena, was up all night with a nasty case of diarrhea.
    — Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 28 Sep. 2026
  • The latest special guest stars Este Haim as the mysterious Hallow's Eve, a villainess who wants to ruin Halloween forever by playing nasty tricks on kids out looking for candy.
    — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of nasty
Adjective
  • But, for Iñárritu, the wretched state of the world has always been more of a starting point, a baseline narrative assumption, than a determinant or register of mood.
    — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Not one Wrexham player emerged with credit from a truly wretched performance, apart perhaps from goalkeeper Anthony Patterson, who prevented the margin of defeat being even larger with excellent saves to deny Jarrod Bowen and Manor Solomon.
    — Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of wretched
Adjective
  • People tend to think of waste as trash, sewage, slag, manure and other seemingly useless or disgusting substances.
    — Edward D. Melillo, The Conversation, 30 Sep. 2026
  • The better to act out empire’s idea of what disgusting demonic sickness looks like.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of disgusting
Adjective
  • The mean score for the Peach State’s public school students was higher than the national average for the ninth year in a row, Georgia Department of Education officials said in a news release Tuesday.
    — Eric Stirgus, AJC.com, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Related Stories Cruise, declaiming every line, acting with blind bluster and a mean gleam of good-ol’-boy joy, makes Digger a walking cartoon — a larger-than-life satire of over-the-top American arrogance, like LBJ crossed with Foghorn Leghorn.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of mean

Browse Nearby Words

scab
scabby
scabrous
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Cite this Entry

“Scabby.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scabby. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.

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