Scruff
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Someone with an untidy appearance. countable, uncountable
"That candidate will never get the job: he's a right scruff."
- 2 The loose skin at the back of the neck of some animals.
- 3 the back side of the neck wordnet
- 4 Stubble, facial hair (on males). countable, uncountable
- 5 The back of the neck, nape; also scruff of the neck. rare
"He grabbed his unruly child by the scruff of the neck, and took him home."
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- 6 Crust. countable, obsolete, uncountable
- 7 Scurf. countable, obsolete, uncountable
- 1 To lift or carry by the scruff. transitive
"She gently scruffed the kitten who was trying to climb her leg."
Example
More examples"Mary grabbed Tom by the scruff of his neck."
Etymology
See scurf.
1790, from earlier (1787) scuft and dialect scuff, influenced by scruff (“crust”). Related to North Frisian skuft (“back of the neck of a horse”) and Dutch schoft (“withers (of a horse)”), from Proto-Germanic. Compare also Old Norse skopt (“hair of the head”), Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐍆𐍄 (skuft, “hair of the head”), Middle High German schopf (German Schopf).
Related phrases
More for "scruff"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.