scabrous

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective scabrous contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of scabrous are harsh, rough, rugged, and uneven. While all these words mean "not smooth or even," scabrous implies scaliness or prickliness of surface.

a scabrous leaf

Where would harsh be a reasonable alternative to scabrous?

The meanings of harsh and scabrous largely overlap; however, harsh implies a surface or texture distinctly unpleasant to the touch.

a harsh fabric that chafes the skin

When would rough be a good substitute for scabrous?

While in some cases nearly identical to scabrous, rough implies points, bristles, ridges, or projections on the surface.

a rough wooden board

When could rugged be used to replace scabrous?

While the synonyms rugged and scabrous are close in meaning, rugged implies irregularity or roughness of land surface and connotes difficulty of travel.

a rugged landscape

When is it sensible to use uneven instead of scabrous?

The words uneven and scabrous can be used in similar contexts, but uneven implies a lack of uniformity in height, breadth, or quality.

an old house with uneven floors

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of scabrous Malcolm is the pressure-release valve in Baumbach's scabrous follow-up to 2005's The Squid and the Whale, and one of many points of contention between Margot and Pauline. Erik Adams, EW.com, 18 July 2023 This dirty Pommie duo make scabrous gold on UK Grim, their 12th studio album. Spin Staff, SPIN, 12 Dec. 2023 Brined for 24 hours, the halal chicken is enveloped in a rub whose 15 or so ingredients transform the skin into something scabrous, charred and unnerving. Tim Carman, Washington Post, 9 Oct. 2023 Nothing about this frequently brilliant but wildly contorted film is easy, neither working through the knotted narrative, nor trying to find a clear moral throughline amidst all the snide and scabrous nihilism. Jessica Kiang, Variety, 31 Aug. 2023 See all Example Sentences for scabrous 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scabrous
Adjective
  • The problem is particularly troublesome in areas of the country without doctors, nurses, midwives or medical centers specializing in maternity care.
    Erika Edwards, NBC News, 14 Nov. 2024
  • The big issue was that getting to those hard-to-reach areas was troublesome.
    Gieson Cacho, The Mercury News, 28 Oct. 2024
Adjective
  • The larger issue, though, is the vexing combination of (a) huge fiscal deficits--of which interest costs are now a large part; (b) a massive debt pile that is generating those interest payments; and (c) rising interest rates.
    Kelly Evans, CNBC, 6 Nov. 2024
  • The injury report said his knee and back hurt coming off 21 pressures in that vexing loss to the Browns.
    Baltimore Sun staff, Baltimore Sun, 4 Nov. 2024
Adjective
  • Since taking office some 100 days ago Keir Starmer’s government has faltered, derailed by the challenge of race riots, minor, vexatious scandals over gifts to Labour ministers and the sheer magnitude of the task of turning around the UK economy.
    Mike O'Sullivan, Forbes, 9 Oct. 2024
  • Charting Germany’s shifting relations with the great powers has been Merkel’s most vexatious challenge of all.
    Constanze Stelzenmüller, Foreign Affairs, 20 Apr. 2021
Adjective
  • Few modern artists do so much to persuade us that creative endeavor is a struggle—an anxious wrestling with the stubborn materials to hand, and a determination to plow on.
    Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2024
  • Here are some thought on how to approach those difficult but necessary discussions with a stubborn parent who refuses to plan for the future.
    Carolyn Rosenblatt, Forbes, 21 Nov. 2024
Adjective
  • But now that Musk is gaining political power as a close ally of President-elect Donald Trump, his demands for criminal charges against critics are much more worrisome, according to scholars and groups devoted to the First Amendment.
    David Ingram, NBC News, 12 Nov. 2024
  • Certain symptoms and coinciding factors can make a swollen lymph node more worrisome.
    Erica Sloan, SELF, 30 Oct. 2024
Adjective
  • For me, Berry Bonbon is the crown jewel of the collection—a fruity, nutty, complex scent that’s perfect for daily wear or special occasions.
    Kimberly Wilson, Essence, 29 Nov. 2024
  • The arrival of streamers made this much more complex, and gave these producers enough leverage to negotiate in their best interests.
    Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 29 Nov. 2024
Adjective
  • Social Security’s internal workings are so recondite and poorly understood by average voters that numerous possible ways of imposing benefit cuts or otherwise harming the program are hiding in plain sight.
    Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 26 Nov. 2024
  • In retrospect, the integer distance problem was waiting for mathematicians who were willing to consider more unruly curves than hyperbolas and then draw on recondite tools from algebraic geometry and number theory to tame them.
    Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 1 Apr. 2024
Adjective
  • No abstract theory regardless of how sincerely held should impede or distract from that hideous, concrete real-world reality.
    Caroline Frost, Deadline, 24 Nov. 2024
  • Their work encompasses a diverse range of artistic media, including paintings inspired by photographs and ghost houses, mobile sculptures, and abstract images that represent soundscapes.
    Lisa Deaderick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Nov. 2024

Thesaurus Entries Near scabrous

Cite this Entry

“Scabrous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scabrous. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.

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