What does "scurvy" mean?

A disease caused by insufficient intake of vitamin C, leading to the formation of livid spots on the skin, spongy gums, loosening of the teeth, and bleeding into the skin and from almost all mucous membranes; (countable, obsolete) an occurrence of this disease.

What is a synonym for "scurvy"?

Common synonyms include: miserable, scorbutus, roynish, scald, abject, abject.

Scurvy

//ˈskɜːvi// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Common ·Middle school level

Definitions

Noun

1
A disease caused by insufficient intake of vitamin C, leading to the formation of livid spots on the skin, spongy gums, loosening of the teeth, and bleeding into the skin and from almost all mucous membranes; (countable, obsolete) an occurrence of this disease. uncountable, usually
"Our legs now vs deceiue, / ſwolne euery ioint withall, / With this diſeaſe, which, by your leaue, / the Scuruie men doe call."
2
a condition caused by deficiency of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) wordnet
3
A contemptible or despicable person. countable, derogatory, figuratively, usually
"Row, row you scurvies, / She'll have us boiled in oil. / Move, move those creaking oars, / until you reach Cape soil."
4
A cattle disease, perhaps affecting the skin. broadly, obsolete, uncountable, usually

Adjective

1
Affected or covered with scurf (“skin disease causing flakes of skin to fall off”) or scabs; scurfy, scabby; also, of or relating to a skin disease causing scurf or to scurvy (noun noun sense 1). obsolete
"Some wenches come vnlased, / Some hyswyues come vnbrased, / Wyth theyr naked pappes, / That flappes and flappes; / […] / A sorte of foule drabbes / All scuruy with scabbes: […]"
2
Of growths on plants: resembling scurf; scurfy. broadly, obsolete
3
Of a person or thing: disgustingly mean; contemptible, despicable, low. archaic, figuratively
"a scurvy knave a scurvy trick"
4
Of the way someone is treated: poor, shabby. archaic, figuratively

Adjective

1
of the most contemptible kind wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

miserable scorbutus roynish scald abject abject

Example

More examples

"A renowned tactician, Christopher Columbus once downed an entire pirate fleet by stealing all of their fruits and vegetables, thus giving them scurvy."

Etymology

The adjective is derived from Late Middle English scurvi, scurvy, variants of scurfi (“having scurf, scabby”), from scurf (“skin disease causing scabs or scales; flakes of skin that fall off due to a skin disease, etc.”) + -i (suffix forming adjectives). Scurf is derived from Old English scurf, from Proto-Germanic *skurf- (“to gnaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off, sever; to divide, separate”). By surface analysis, scurf (“skin disease; flakes of skin that fall off due to a skin disease; crust-like formations on the skin”) + -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’ forming adjectives). The noun is derived from the adjective. It was used to translate the similar-sounding Dutch scheurbuik, French scorbut, Middle Low German schorbūk (“scurvy (disease)”), etc.

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