mangier; mangiest
1
: affected with or resulting from mange
2
a
: having many worn or bare spots
a mangy rug
b
: seedy, shabby
a mangy office
manginess noun

Examples of mangy in a Sentence

a mangy old car that was covered in rust
Recent Examples on the Web Davis was more or less rocking his signature look — a red Adidas tracksuit, hair in mangy dreads. Ed Masley, The Arizona Republic, 4 Oct. 2024 The father, in a black frock coat, cracked his whip at a mangy and irritated lion who eventually agreed to jump through a hoop. Rosanna Warren, Harper's Magazine, 25 June 2024 In several cases, the cloned dog’s appeal appeared to lie partly in physical problems or a difficult start in life: the dog found as a mangy stray or rescued from a kill shelter or a bad breeder; the needy dog or the purebred with a non-ideal characteristic. Alexandra Horowitz, The New Yorker, 24 June 2024 In front of us was a derelict baseball diamond and mangy grass fields. Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2024 This is 007 territory, not the usual world of mangy MI5 rejects that the show has so adeptly built up. Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 20 Dec. 2023 The stench of cow dung engulfs the gulleys, where thousands of flies swarm outside doors and mangy cats roam the alleyways. Rhea Mogul, CNN, 5 Sep. 2023 Perhaps Villa Capistrano could reveal something about Lawrence. Advertisement The brick stairs knifed past a garden, where lizards darted among eroded stone sculptures and palm trees wore their dead fronds like mangy beards. Daniel Miller, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2023 Their caged homes don’t seem oppressive; a mangy stray dog named Bob (Danny DeVito) keeps Ivan company. Jake Coyle, Detroit Free Press, 22 Aug. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mangy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of mangy was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near mangy

Cite this Entry

“Mangy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mangy. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

mangy

adjective
mangier; mangiest
1
: affected with or resulting from mange
2
: shabby sense 1, seedy
a mangy old rug
manginess
ˈmān-jē-nəs
noun

Medical Definition

mangy

adjective
man·​gy ˈmān-jē How to pronounce mangy (audio)
mangier; mangiest
1
: infected with mange
a mangy dog
2
: relating to, characteristic of, or resulting from mange
a mangy appearance
a mangy itch

More from Merriam-Webster on mangy

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