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 Is this Scott redoing American Gangster as a grand Italian tragedy, or scabrous comedy about a family undone by their ineptitude and excess? Scott Tobias, Vulture, 20 Nov. 2024 Jacobs wrote the script with these three actors in mind, which was perhaps shocking news to each of them, who play scabrous women who locate the worst characteristics of each other and then blow them up into throwdown fights. Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 18 Sep. 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 See All Example Sentences for scabrous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scabrous
Adjective
  • In 1917, the Titles Deprivation Act was passed to deal with troublesome royal cousins who sided with Germany in the First World War.
    Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 25 Oct. 2025
  • Palmer has been the difference-maker since joining from Manchester City in 2023 but is currently sidelined with a troublesome groin injury that is expected to keep him out for another five weeks.
    Simon Johnson, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Why an audience member would want to return, though, would be an even more vexing mystery than whatever happened to Riley Brennan.
    Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 21 Oct. 2025
  • Any unexplained death leaves room for competing narratives, but Scott’s death involved a particularly vexing set of ambiguities.
    The New Yorker, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Decades later, he was declared a vexatious litigant by the High Court, Federal Court and Queensland Supreme Court, a label that barred him from filing any more claims.
    Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2025
  • The next morning, there were two vexatious problems.
    Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune, 27 July 2025
Adjective
  • That individual brilliance which can produce a moment of magic to break open a stubborn defence is harder to come by.
    Liam Tharme, New York Times, 31 Oct. 2025
  • Be sure to pay extra attention to stubborn stains.
    Jennifer Beck Goldblatt, Architectural Digest, 31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Then there were the ghoulish figures of revolutionary adventurers, the Mexican painter with two pistols in his belt, the men who were carving themselves careers out of these troublous times.
    John Dos Passos, National Review, 28 Sep. 2020
Adjective
  • Middlekauff is certainly not the only person who feels this way, and a year and a half into Williams' professional career, the lack of production is becoming increasingly worrisome.
    Matthew Schmidt, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Oct. 2025
  • An investigation from Consumer Reports found that up to 70% of protein powders had levels of lead that would be worrisome.
    Abby Norman, Verywell Health, 27 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Their program ties equipment, remote oversight, and training into one plan so teams can treat complex cases close to home.
    Matt Emma, USA Today, 29 Oct. 2025
  • Reportedly, the company intends to reuse the fundamental robotic core — which houses the complex multimodal interaction and motion-control technology — to create a diverse range of new figures.
    Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • This includes courses such as the notoriously recondite organic chemistry as well as biology, general chemistry, and physics.
    Richard Menger MD MPA, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2025
  • 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

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Cite this Entry

“Scabrous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scabrous. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.

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