scabrous

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective scabrous contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of scabrous are harsh, rough, rugged, and uneven. While all these words mean "not smooth or even," scabrous implies scaliness or prickliness of surface.

a scabrous leaf

Where would harsh be a reasonable alternative to scabrous?

The meanings of harsh and scabrous largely overlap; however, harsh implies a surface or texture distinctly unpleasant to the touch.

a harsh fabric that chafes the skin

When would rough be a good substitute for scabrous?

While in some cases nearly identical to scabrous, rough implies points, bristles, ridges, or projections on the surface.

a rough wooden board

When could rugged be used to replace scabrous?

While the synonyms rugged and scabrous are close in meaning, rugged implies irregularity or roughness of land surface and connotes difficulty of travel.

a rugged landscape

When is it sensible to use uneven instead of scabrous?

The words uneven and scabrous can be used in similar contexts, but uneven implies a lack of uniformity in height, breadth, or quality.

an old house with uneven floors

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 scabrous In the world of The Boys, based on the gleefully scabrous 2000s indie comic-book series of the same name by writer Garth Ennis and artist Darick Robertson, superheroes are real, pop-culture-dominating, and with rare exceptions, entirely unheroic. Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 13 June 2024 At nearly three hours, the anthology film was divisive: Some hailed its scabrous take on human nature as brilliant, and others derided it as bloated. Matt Donnelly, Variety, 21 May 2024 Malcolm is the pressure-release valve in Baumbach's scabrous follow-up to 2005's The Squid and the Whale, and one of many points of contention between Margot and Pauline. Erik Adams, EW.com, 18 July 2023 This dirty Pommie duo make scabrous gold on UK Grim, their 12th studio album. Spin Staff, SPIN, 12 Dec. 2023 See All Example Sentences for scabrous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scabrous
Adjective
  • More lastingly troublesome is the general blindness to anything but race in her work.
    Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 5 May 2025
  • Teladoc’s BetterHelp mental health unit has been a particularly troublesome business as paying users dropped off in the years following the pandemic.
    Ashley Capoot, CNBC, 5 May 2025
Adjective
  • The height of the Soviet-era cruise missile threat was quite remarkable, but Beijing's ability to layer in many types of anti-ship weapons, including anti-ship ballistic missiles of various types, especially those with very-long range, is a uniquely vexing problem.
    Ryan Chan, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 May 2025
  • In a vexing case, what was unheard and what did not happen proved to be the crucial evidence.
    Arthur I. Cyr, Chicago Tribune, 6 May 2025
Adjective
  • Everything that Donald -- any suit that's filed against Trump's administration, Donald Trump will -- will by definition believe is frivolous and vexatious, okay?
    ABC News, ABC News, 23 Mar. 2025
  • But that’s all done now, and finding anything that comes close is a vexatious trial.
    airmail.news, airmail.news, 7 Nov. 2024
Adjective
  • When tragedy strikes on Michigan roads—when a car skids off an icy bend or a semi-truck barrels through a red light—victims are often left to face not only devastating injuries but also a daunting legal maze of corporate denials and stubborn insurers.
    William Jones, USA Today, 17 May 2025
  • Get The Recipe Smart Move Similar recipes with beans and peas existed before then, but a challenge made to a stubborn chef named Helen Corbitt spurred the creation of Texas caviar.
    Libby Monteith Minor, Southern Living, 17 May 2025
Adjective
  • Coupled with anxieties regarding a possible pullback in advertising spending, this created a worrisome outlook for the company.
    Trefis Team, Forbes.com, 12 May 2025
  • But worrisome events in Los Angeles suggest that the Trump Administration’s emphasis on government accountability is quite selective.
    Mike Fox, Oc Register, 12 May 2025
Adjective
  • The Heat need something complex, complex to a degree of impacting multiple players at multiple positions.
    Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 10 May 2025
  • But this year’s state budget negotiations are far most complex than usual, given the uncertain future of Medicaid, a federal health care entitlement program run in cooperation with states.
    Keith M. Phaneuf, Hartford Courant, 10 May 2025
Adjective
  • Social Security’s internal workings are so recondite and poorly understood by average voters that numerous possible ways of imposing benefit cuts or otherwise harming the program are hiding in plain sight.
    Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 26 Nov. 2024
  • In retrospect, the integer distance problem was waiting for mathematicians who were willing to consider more unruly curves than hyperbolas and then draw on recondite tools from algebraic geometry and number theory to tame them.
    Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 1 Apr. 2024
Adjective
  • Wingard’s sequel is a bit more abstract than its predecessor, focusing too much on strange world-building and too little on the battle between our two beloved heavies.
    EW.com, EW.com, 8 May 2025
  • The channel features an abstract logo with Letterman’s signature beard and glasses.
    Dade Hayes, Deadline, 6 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Scabrous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scabrous. Accessed 22 May. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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