Synonyms of scrubby

scrubby

adjective

ˈskrə-bē 

as in dilapidated

showing signs of advanced wear and tear and neglect

changed into an old flannel shirt and a scrubby pair of jeans to clean out the garage

Synonyms & Similar Words

• dilapidated
• neglected
• scruffy
• desolate
• shabby
• mangy
• tumbledown
• tatty
• seedy
• dumpy
• grungy
• tattered
• miserable
• ragged
• tacky
• abandoned
• tired
• ratty
• threadbare
• gone to seed
• sleazy
• down-at-the-heels
• timeworn
• broken
• ruined
• beat-up
• run-down
• bombed-out
• tatterdemalion
• dog-eared
• mean
• unkept
• moth-eaten
• dingy
• damaged
• forlorn
• decrepit
• wrecked
• ramshackle
• godforsaken
• decaying
• rickety
• bedraggled
• destroyed
• deteriorated
• broken-down
• deteriorating
• worn-out
• rackety
• injured
• hurt
• impaired
• harmed
• rattletrap

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• new
• fresh
• brand-new
• kept-up
• maintained
• reconstructed
• patched
• spiffy
• mended
• rebuilt
• smart
• cared-for
• spruce

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of scrubby

While much of the Yucatan peninsula is covered by rain forest, the landscape designers improved on nature here creating a jungle that is less scrubby than the real thing and instead planted with dramatic Mexican fan palms and other tropical trees that create a solid green wall. — John Newton, Condé Nast Traveler, 5 Feb. 2026

Banks are fringed with grasses and scrubby trees, as colorful hills slant down to the water. — Roger Naylor, AZCentral.com, 29 Jan. 2026

Nothing on the surface of this scrubby expanse of western Nevada desert, overlooked by towering, craggy mountains, gives even a hint of what lies beneath. — Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 12 Dec. 2025

Its clear, shallow waters were pleasant to wade into after lazing under one of the scrubby trees on the sand. — Lucy Handley, CNBC, 15 Nov. 2025