as in dilapidated
showing signs of advanced wear and tear and neglect
dressed in scruffy old clothes to clean out the garage
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Recent Examples of scruffy
Reluctantly hired to fill in for her is Cameron (Lewis Pullman), a scruffy drifter newly blown into town with some unfinished family business to attend to.
—
Guy Lodge, Variety, 7 May 2026
Reiner, with his head shaved and a scruffy goatee, wore a yellow prison top with blue prison pants.
—Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 29 Apr. 2026
There’s an image of New York City, calcified in film, memoir, and newsprint, of a city built on a foundation of scruffy subcultures, especially those communities grounded in the city’s hundreds of distinct diasporas.
—Kat Chen, Condé Nast Traveler, 25 Apr. 2026
But the survivalist was quick to note that his mother often called him the scruffiest person in the room.
—Khloe Quill, FOXNews.com, 21 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for scruffy
Guy Lodge, Variety, 7 May 2026
Reiner, with his head shaved and a scruffy goatee, wore a yellow prison top with blue prison pants.
—Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 29 Apr. 2026
There’s an image of New York City, calcified in film, memoir, and newsprint, of a city built on a foundation of scruffy subcultures, especially those communities grounded in the city’s hundreds of distinct diasporas.
—Kat Chen, Condé Nast Traveler, 25 Apr. 2026
But the survivalist was quick to note that his mother often called him the scruffiest person in the room.
—Khloe Quill, FOXNews.com, 21 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for scruffy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scruffy
Adjective
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Unable to pay rent, the boys moved several hours away to the small, dilapidated house with the leaky roof where rent is minimal.—
Gabrielle Emanuel,
NPR,
18 June 2026
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Buck Island offered to sell the dilapidated unit to Brown for $1,000, funded partially with her security deposit.—
Gretchen Morgenson,
NBC news,
10 June 2026
Adjective
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Underdog startups and neglected divisions tell similar stories.—
Steve Denning,
Forbes.com,
13 May 2026
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Cinematographer Guillermo Garza shoots neglected settings like fine art, embracing the grime.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
3 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Scruffy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scruffy. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.
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