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scruffy

[skruhf-ee] / ˈskrʌf i /


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.

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Steffi Cao investigates a billionaire’s scruffy makeover, and explores why Silicon Valley’s power players are styling themselves to appear harmless.

From Slate ● Oct. 5, 2026

Halfway into my second drink, a scruffy, tall guy with silvery blond hair from New York sat down next to me.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

Indiana is in many ways a liminal state, the place you pass through between scruffy Cleveland and business-like Chicago, with little to inspire romantic odes to home.

From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026

In a 2020 UK study, 51% of employers admitted turning down a candidate because of the way they looked, with managers indicating they had been influenced by scruffy clothes or poorly dyed hair.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

No one would suspect the pair with long hair and scruffy beards who blended in with all of the other college students backpacking through Europe.

From "City Spies" by James Ponti

As I drove there, the well-kept strip malls of Garden Grove transitioned to scruffier ones on the Stanton side.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026

“Drive-Away Dolls” might suggest a return to a scruffier sensibility.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 20, 2024

They pit establishment power against a new, scruffier and perhaps more vital power.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 25, 2023

But the subprime mortgage crisis that began in 2007 briefly changed that, allowing scruffier experimental ventures to gain a foothold.

From New York Times ● Mar. 17, 2023

The mug shot posted by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office appears to show the same person as in the shot posted on Mr. Jurgens’ LinkedIn account, although he looks considerably scruffier in the arrest photo.

From Washington Times ● Mar. 6, 2023

She remembered being staggered by the size and opulence of the home, while Sullivan was at his desk "wearing the scruffiest tracksuit".

From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026

In the early days of their rise, the Stones were the most notorious, scruffiest band of hit-makers in the U.K., where one tabloid headline famously asked, “Would you let your daughter marry a Rolling Stone?”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2019

Wild” has been on the air since 2006, he insists he hired a publicist last year “so I don’t have to do P.R.,” and that he’s “still always the scruffiest person at any meeting.”

From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 2012

For an hour and 13 minutes the converted Russian tuna boat chased one of the mightiest ships of the Seventh Fleet; in turn, it was chased by one of the scruffiest vessels in the U.S.

From Time Magazine Archive

She looked down and saw the scruffiest face looking back, a small dog that apparently had been assembled from leftover dog parts.

From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn




Vocabulary lists containing scruffy


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