Scabby

//ˈskæb.i// adj, slang

adj, slang ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Affected with scabs; full of scabs.

    "Her wrizled skin, as rough as maple rind, So scabby was, that would have loath'd all womankind."

  2. 2
    Diseased with the scab (mange): mangy.
  3. 3
    Having a blotched, uneven appearance.
  4. 4
    Injured by the attachment of barnacles to the carapace of a shell.
  5. 5
    Working against union policies, working to bust unions; in particular, being a scab (worker who crosses a union picket line).

    "The police, the governor, and the "scabby" Hearst Examiner "received a tremendous razzing," according to the Waterfront Worker, while all along the line of march "the workers on the sidelines cheered[…]""

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  1. 6
    stingy; scrounging. Ireland, UK, slang

    "The chipper was a bit scabby on the vinegar today."

Adjective
  1. 1
    covered with scabs wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
abjectabominablearrantasperousatrociousbarfy

Antonyms

All antonyms
smooth

Example

More examples

"The dog looked scabby and in poor state."

Etymology

From Middle English scabby, scabbie, equivalent to scab + -y. Doublet of shabby.

Related phrases

scabby sheep

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.