Scruffy

//ˈskɹaf.i// adj, name, noun, slang

adj, name, noun, slang ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An artificial intelligence researcher who believes that intelligence is too complicated (or computationally intractable) to be solved with the sorts of homogeneous system favoured by the "neats". informal
  2. 2
    An arctic fox. slang

    "For quotations using this term, see Citations:scruffy."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Untidy in appearance; scrubby; shabby.

    "A scruffy little dog came scampering down the road."

  2. 2
    Scurfy.
Adjective
  1. 1
    shabby and untidy wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A given name for a dog.

Synonyms

All synonyms
abjectabominablearrantatrociousbasebedraggled

Example

More examples

"When I was young, I was a bit scruffy and there were times when I didn't take a bath for up to two weeks during the summer."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From scruff + -y.

Etymology 2

From scruffy.

Related phrases

scruffy chicartificial intelligence

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