mangy

adjective

ˈmān-jē 

mangier; mangiest

1

: affected with or resulting from mange

2

a

: having many worn or bare spots

a mangy rug

b

: seedy, shabby

a mangy office

manginess

ˈmān-jē-nəs 

noun

Synonyms

• beat-up
• bombed-out
• dilapidated
• dog-eared
• down-at-the-heels
• down-at-heel
• down-at-the-heel
• down-at-heels
• dumpy
• grungy
• mean
• miserable
• moth-eaten
• neglected
• ratty
• run-down
• scrubby
• scruffy
• seedy
• shabby
• sleazy
• tacky
• tatterdemalion
• tatty
• threadbare
• timeworn
• tumbledown

Examples of mangy in a Sentence

a mangy old car that was covered in rust

Recent Examples on the Web

His Orlok is more feral and red-blooded than previous iterations, appearing swathed in ursine furs and accompanied by mangy curs. —Celia Mattison, Vulture, 27 Dec. 2024

Paramount The other animal that makes a big impression is the mangy baboon that Paul Mescal’s character, Lucius, has to fight in his first battle. —Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 21 Nov. 2024

Davis was more or less rocking his signature look — a red Adidas tracksuit, hair in mangy dreads. —Ed Masley, The Arizona Republic, 4 Oct. 2024

The father, in a black frock coat, cracked his whip at a mangy and irritated lion who eventually agreed to jump through a hoop. —Rosanna Warren, Harper's Magazine, 25 June 2024

In several cases, the cloned dog’s appeal appeared to lie partly in physical problems or a difficult start in life: the dog found as a mangy stray or rescued from a kill shelter or a bad breeder; the needy dog or the purebred with a non-ideal characteristic. —Alexandra Horowitz, The New Yorker, 24 June 2024

In front of us was a derelict baseball diamond and mangy grass fields. —Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2024

This is 007 territory, not the usual world of mangy MI5 rejects that the show has so adeptly built up. —Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 20 Dec. 2023

The stench of cow dung engulfs the gulleys, where thousands of flies swarm outside doors and mangy cats roam the alleyways. —Rhea Mogul, CNN, 5 Sep. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for mangy

• rangy

Kids Definition

mangy

adjective

ˈmān-jē 

mangier; mangiest

1

: affected with or resulting from mange

2

: shabby sense 1, seedy

a mangy old rug

manginess

ˈmān-jē-nəs

noun

Medical Definition

mangy

adjective

man·​gy ˈmān-jē 

mangier; mangiest

1

: infected with mange

a mangy dog

2

: relating to, characteristic of, or resulting from mange

a mangy appearance

a mangy itch