Definitions

scrubby

[skruhb-ee] / ˈskrʌb i /

ADJECTIVE

shabby

Synonyms

WEAK

all the worse for wear bare bedraggled broken-down crummy cure decayed decaying decrepit degenerated desolate deteriorated deteriorating dilapidated dingy disfigured disreputable dog-eared down-at-heel faded frayed gone to seed mangy meager mean miserable moth-eaten neglected pitiful poor pot poverty-stricken ragged ramshackle ratty rickety ruined ruinous run down rundown scruffy seedy shoddy sleazy slipshod squalid tacky tattered tatty threadbare tired worn worn-out worse for wear wretched

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Kharg Island, targeted in US air strikes on Saturday, is a scrubby stretch of land in the Gulf that handles almost all of Iran's crude exports.

From Barron's • Mar. 14, 2026

Should I use precious column inches teasing out the scrubby understeer of a Toyota Sienna minivan?

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 6, 2025

She says she had been stuck in France for two months, after travelling there from Vietnam via Hungary, sleeping in tents in a scrubby forest.

From BBC • Jan. 5, 2025

Setting fires in the Sandhills of central North Carolina requires an understanding of moisture levels in the scrubby underbrush, and she gets a better sense of it in bare feet.

From Salon • Oct. 20, 2024

Not for the first time, Leo was struck by how similar Greece was to his home state of Texas - the low hills, the scrubby trees, the drone of cicadas and the oppressive summer heat.

From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan

scrubby

Example Sentences

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