scruffy

[skruhf-ee] /ˈskrʌf i/

adjective, scruffier, scruffiest.

untidy; shabby.

Origin

1650-60; scruff² + -y¹

Examples from the web for scruffy

But they are also somewhat skeptical of the protestors, who seem a bit scruffy and unfocused.
It shows an unlovely ridge with a couple of scruffy bushes on it.
He had become the sort who casts about for a policeman at the sight of the scruffy poor.
He has a scruffy beard and straight blondish hair that hangs not quite to his shoulders.
Barren granite and scruffy tundra fan out in every direction.
We tossed our duffels and backpacks down to its two scruffy-looking crewmen as their vessel ground against the side of the ship.
There's the car dealer who tried to throw the scruffy hippie out of the showroom.
Firms soon organised themselves along similar lines, keeping white-coated scientists safely apart from scruffy engineers.
Yet another walks in late, looking scruffy and eating a chocolate cereal bar.
scruffy he might be, with tie askew and too-short trousers, but he was not a tramp.

British Dictionary definitions for scruffy

scruffy

/ˈskrʌfɪ/

adjective scruffier, scruffiest

unkempt or shabby

Word Origin and History for scruffy

adj.

1650s, "covered with scurf," from scruff "dandruff, scurf" (late Old English variant of scurf) + -y (2). Generalized sense of "rough and dirty" is from 1871. Related: Scruffily; scruffiness.

Slang definitions & phrases for scruffy

scruffy

adjective

Dirty and unkempt; shabby; slovenly: The scruffy little city, Knoxville, did it/ one bearded, sad-eyed, scruffy-looking lad

[1871+; fr obsolete British scruff, ''valueless, contemptible,'' probably an alteration of scurf, ''scabbiness of the skin,'' hence related to scurvy]