Scurrilous

//ˈskʌ.ɹə.ləs// adj

adj ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Given to vulgar verbal abuse; foul-mouthed.
  2. 2
    Coarse, vulgar, or abusive.
  3. 3
    Slanderous.

    "She said Johnson was “a better man than many of your detractors will ever understand”, adding that it was “so desperately sad that you let yourself down by making a scurrilous accusation against the leader of the opposition”."

  4. 4
    Gross, vulgar.
  5. 5
    Unscrupulous, evil.

    "We have had our address used by scurrilous crooks in the past to gain assets by fraud."

Adjective
  1. 1
    expressing offensive reproach wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
opprobriousabusiveabusiveatrociousback-bitingbackhand

Example

More examples

"When freedom of the press was fresh, newspapers were even more scurrilous and libelous than today."

Etymology

From Latin scurrīlis (“buffoon-like”) + -ous, from scurra (“a buffoon”).

Related phrases

foul mouthed

More for "scurrilous"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

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