Synonyms of scrubby

scrubby

adjective

ˈskrə-bē 

as in dilapidated

showing signs of advanced wear and tear and neglect

changed into an old flannel shirt and a scrubby pair of jeans to clean out the garage

Synonyms & Similar Words

• dilapidated
• neglected
• scruffy
• desolate
• shabby
• mangy
• tumbledown
• tatty
• seedy
• dumpy
• grungy
• tattered
• miserable
• ragged
• tacky
• abandoned
• tired
• ratty
• threadbare
• gone to seed
• sleazy
• down-at-the-heels
• timeworn
• broken
• ruined
• beat-up
• run-down
• bombed-out
• tatterdemalion
• dog-eared
• mean
• unkept
• moth-eaten
• dingy
• damaged
• forlorn
• decrepit
• wrecked
• ramshackle
• godforsaken
• decaying
• rickety
• bedraggled
• destroyed
• deteriorated
• broken-down
• deteriorating
• worn-out
• rackety
• injured
• hurt
• impaired
• harmed
• rattletrap

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• new
• fresh
• brand-new
• kept-up
• maintained
• reconstructed
• patched
• spiffy
• mended
• rebuilt
• smart
• cared-for
• spruce

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of scrubby

While much of the Yucatan peninsula is covered by rain forest, the landscape designers improved on nature here creating a jungle that is less scrubby than the real thing and instead planted with dramatic Mexican fan palms and other tropical trees that create a solid green wall. —John Newton, Condé Nast Traveler, 5 Feb. 2026

Banks are fringed with grasses and scrubby trees, as colorful hills slant down to the water. —Roger Naylor, AZCentral.com, 29 Jan. 2026

Nothing on the surface of this scrubby expanse of western Nevada desert, overlooked by towering, craggy mountains, gives even a hint of what lies beneath. —Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 12 Dec. 2025

Its clear, shallow waters were pleasant to wade into after lazing under one of the scrubby trees on the sand. —Lucy Handley, CNBC, 15 Nov. 2025