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
-
And getting all giddy over some lame light beer that has apple juice poured into to is just plain embarrassing.—
Zach Dean OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
24 Apr. 2026
-
This idea that just sitting with your face buried in your phone when you’re supposed to be in a social setting—that’s lame, right?—
Charlie Warzel,
The Atlantic,
24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Will the harsh weather mean poor growth and pitiful harvests?—
Gemma Johnstone,
The Spruce,
8 May 2026
-
Written as a response to the utopian fiction that consumed Russia’s intelligentsia at the time, Notes from Underground is a mirror that reflects the ugliest, most pitiful aspects of humanity back at us.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Microwaves seem to get dirty out of nowhere.—
Natalia Gonzalez Blanco Serrano,
The Spruce,
11 May 2026
-
But the dirty secret is most of them are awful.—
Brian Tallerico,
Vulture,
11 May 2026
Adjective
-
The reason all of this is happening, probably more than any other, is that clipping is cheap.—
Lane Brown,
Vulture,
15 May 2026
-
Surprisingly the most expensive hairpiece so far has been Attenborough’s, which Fortune reveals was a hybrid of a cheap £20 ($26) wig at the back combined with tens of man-hours knotting individual strands of hair onto a lace front to create the centenarian’s familiar pate.—
K.J. Yossman,
Variety,
15 May 2026
Adjective
-
Drain Mats Kitchen sinks may be dirty, but your drain mat is downright nasty.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
15 May 2026
-
But facing the Jaguars after the Chiefs and before the Rams is nasty business.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
15 May 2026
Adjective
-
Everything in this screen world is heightened, slightly off-kilter, but entirely plausible (with the exception being Ruby’s wretched body, still burning after all these years).—
Katie Walsh,
Boston Herald,
15 May 2026
-
Yes, it’s mostly wretched, but once in a great while there will be a song that’s actually not autotuned.—
Marla Jo Fisher,
Oc Register,
13 May 2026
Adjective
-
This administration has unleashed a disgusting anti-immigrant agenda.—
Lucas Robinson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 May 2026
-
Let women be monstrous, disgusting, angry, feral creatures!—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 May 2026
Adjective
-
Rob-Will, don’t be mean to our BFF Azul!—
William Earl,
Variety,
15 May 2026
-
With a mix of personalities, relationship histories and different forms of dwarfism, the group explores what love, honesty and truly belonging really mean.—
Brenton Blanchet,
PEOPLE,
14 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Scabby.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scabby. Accessed 17 May. 2026.
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