scruffy

adjective

ˈskrə-fē 

scruffier; scruffiest

: unkempt, slovenly, shaggy

a scruffy neighborhood

a scruffy beard

scruffily

ˈskrə-fə-lē 

adverb

scruffiness

ˈskrə-fē-nəs 

noun

Synonyms

• beat-up
• bombed-out
• dilapidated
• dog-eared
• down-at-the-heels
• down-at-heel
• down-at-the-heel
• down-at-heels
• dumpy
• grungy
• mangy
• mean
• miserable
• moth-eaten
• neglected
• ratty
• run-down
• scrubby
• seedy
• shabby
• sleazy
• tacky
• tatterdemalion
• tatty
• threadbare
• timeworn
• tumbledown

Examples of scruffy in a Sentence

The neighborhood is full of dilapidated houses with scruffy backyards.

dressed in scruffy old clothes to clean out the garage

Recent Examples on the Web

For this lasagna-loving indoor cat, the arrival of his scruffy father means the titular feline and his friend Odie must sacrifice their life of luxury and comfort to embark on … a dangerous journey into a criminal underworld? —Emily Maskell, Vulture, 3 June 2024

The set for the Broadway production in 2020 was scruffier and not as spacious. —Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 14 Mar. 2024

Host Reba McEntire was sure to be both corny and unflappable, Lainey Wilson was a lock to win Entertainer of the Year, and country interloper Post Malone, scruffy and face-tattooed, was going to charm the pants off everyone. —Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 17 May 2024

It was filmed in Seattle in 1991, as the city’s scruffy rock bands drifted, improbably, toward global superfame. —Sam Anderson, New York Times, 16 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

scruff, metathetic variant of scurf (also with senses "something worthless or contemptible, contemptible person") + -y entry 1

First Known Use

1871, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

scruffy

adjective

ˈskrəf-ē 

scruffier; scruffiest

: dirty or shabby in appearance

a scruffy beard