as in lame
arousing or deserving of one's loathing and disgust
after winning the lottery, she was beset by a whole scurvy swarm of con artists, ne'er-do-wells, and hangers-on
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Recent Examples of scurvy
Perhaps best known as a immune-system boost or antidote to scurvy, vitamin C has been found to rejuvenate aging skin by reactivating genes responsible for cell growth.
—
New Atlas, 6 July 2025
The latest research indicates that the men split into groups sometime after April 1848, with some parties surviving longer than others but all ultimately dying of starvation, scurvy, exposure, physical exhaustion and chronic illnesses, among other causes.
—Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 May 2025
William and his assistants were nonetheless able to build solid pillars of data, mass death broken down into discrete numerals to represent sexes, ages, locations, seasons, years, and causes of mortality, which included starvation, scurvy, dysentery, cholera, typhus, and relapsing fever.
—Fintan O'Toole, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025
In the Age of Sail, mercury was used on ships to treat fever, scurvy, constipation, and more, often in the form of calomel, or mercurous chloride.
—Sallie Tisdale, Harper's Magazine, 2 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for scurvy
New Atlas, 6 July 2025
The latest research indicates that the men split into groups sometime after April 1848, with some parties surviving longer than others but all ultimately dying of starvation, scurvy, exposure, physical exhaustion and chronic illnesses, among other causes.
—Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 May 2025
William and his assistants were nonetheless able to build solid pillars of data, mass death broken down into discrete numerals to represent sexes, ages, locations, seasons, years, and causes of mortality, which included starvation, scurvy, dysentery, cholera, typhus, and relapsing fever.
—Fintan O'Toole, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025
In the Age of Sail, mercury was used on ships to treat fever, scurvy, constipation, and more, often in the form of calomel, or mercurous chloride.
—Sallie Tisdale, Harper's Magazine, 2 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for scurvy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scurvy
Adjective
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Another main issue is that the power grind itself now being the endgame is no longer a good motivator to play, nor is the Tier system with 3s not much different than 4s or 5s, and all past weapons being somewhat lame now outside of that system entirely.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
13 Sep. 2025
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Paine proposed a lump sum payment of £15 (£2,306 in 2025) to everyone reaching the age of twenty-one and a £10 (£1,537 in 2025) annual pension for the blind and lame, as well as for those fifty and older.—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
7 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The Browns have scored the second-fewest points in the NFL, ahead of only the pitiful Tennessee Titans.—
Jason Lloyd,
New York Times,
28 Sep. 2025
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On the side of the highway, Wilson cuts a pitiful, solitary figure.—
Dan Piepenbring,
Harpers Magazine,
19 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Yes, Baltimore’s defense is wretched, so don’t count on this being a cure-all, exactly.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
29 Sep. 2025
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Rather, the wretched truth is a reminder that history’s wins are often, if not always, accompanied by terrible loss — that, sometimes, what was cast as victory may have actually been defeat.—
Andrea Williams,
Nashville Tennessean,
27 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Wahlberg plays a holy fool in Boogie Nights, our naïve but well-endowed guide through the heyday of theatrical pornography and its decline into something cheaper and tawdrier courtesy of the triumph of VHS.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
25 Sep. 2025
-
It’s been used to import cheap foreign labor at the expense of Americans.—
Billal Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Big, nasty and physical, Kalani Sitake’s bunch controls the ball on offense and gets it back quickly on defense.—
Kyle Newman,
Denver Post,
26 Sep. 2025
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Chad Powers’ nasty protagonist should give it license to be more cutting, rather than just unimaginatively crude, in its humor.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
26 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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For both areas, Painter hit the transfer portal and landed a dirty-work center in Cluff.—
CJ Moore,
New York Times,
30 Sep. 2025
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Far from a knightly war, the German advance in 1941-1942 against France was a dirty one, with thieving of private property and menace against civilians.—
Christopher C. Gorham
September 29,
Literary Hub,
29 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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While seven of the state’s nine members of the House voted for it, Moulton and Pressley, mean-spirited critics of Kirk, joined the 58 Democrats who voted against it.—
Peter Lucas,
Boston Herald,
25 Sep. 2025
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At a mean photon number of 11, the researchers measured bit-flip times ranging between 33 and 60 minutes at a 95 percent confidence interval.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
25 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Don’t notice all the ways humans are disgusting.—
Maureen Lee Lenker,
Entertainment Weekly,
19 Sep. 2025
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But this disgusting and hateful speech is still speech and is protected by our First Amendment.—
David Lightman,
Sacbee.com,
18 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Scurvy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scurvy. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.
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