1
as in to scratch
to damage by rubbing against a sharp or rough surface
scuffed up her shoes by rubbing her feet under the rung of the chair
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to shuffle
to move heavily or clumsily
the miners scuffed past in heavy boots
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of scuff
Liam Twomey, The Athletic, 9 Aug. 2024
The bookends are sturdy and weighty to prevent slipping, and feature padded bases that won’t scuff up furniture.
—Tim Chan, Variety, 10 Dec. 2024
Theresa Holland, Travel + Leisure, 11 Feb. 2025
Shoes For smooth and hard-surfaced shoes that are full of scuffs and stains, use fine-grade steel wool to renew their appearance.
—Halee Miller Van Ryswyk, Better Homes & Gardens, 22 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scuff
Verb
With two City attackers converging in his field of vision, Tosin tries to play a first-time pass with his weaker left foot to Romeo Lavia, but instead scuffs it to the onrushing Jack Grealish.
—Liam Twomey, The Athletic, 9 Aug. 2024
The bookends are sturdy and weighty to prevent slipping, and feature padded bases that won’t scuff up furniture.
—Tim Chan, Variety, 10 Dec. 2024
Noun
The Zipper Carry-on Max proved very durable in our tests, showing only minor superficial scuffs and no dents at all after whacking it with a metal baseball bat and shoving it multiple times off a table while fully packed.
—Theresa Holland, Travel + Leisure, 11 Feb. 2025
Shoes For smooth and hard-surfaced shoes that are full of scuffs and stains, use fine-grade steel wool to renew their appearance.
—Halee Miller Van Ryswyk, Better Homes & Gardens, 22 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scuff
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scuff
Verb
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Some people may have been scratching their heads when kids started screaming and crying after seeing a pig wearing a crown; With zombie pig men and skeleton archers riding spiders, why would this specific creature elicit such a guttural reaction?—
Issy van der Velde,
Rolling Stone,
9 Apr. 2025
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The Cougars had turnovers prior to that possession, but the fact that no shot went up near the final buzzer had many scratching their heads as to what Houston was thinking.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
8 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Pretty much everything else is shuffled off to the infotainment system, a single circular touchscreen that lives in the middle of the dash.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
10 Apr. 2025
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While events were shuffled around to fit a new schedule, the royals will also be about to pace themselves following the monarch's recent health setback.—
Stephanie Petit,
People.com,
7 Apr. 2025
Noun
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My assumption is that most rational human beings would happily stay in a warm and cozy office and simply listen to the building creak and groan under the force of the violent gusts.—
Frederick Dreier,
Outside Online,
11 Mar. 2025
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The set is a ship’s deck that tilts and creaks ominously while a screen plays eerily textured footage of a roiling ocean.—
Houman Barekat,
New York Times,
24 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Set up your agent to scrape competitor data, log changes to a spreadsheet, and send you only the high-impact alerts.—
Jodie Cook,
Forbes.com,
7 Apr. 2025
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On Tuesday, the Wikimedia Foundation announced that relentless AI scraping is putting strain on Wikipedia's servers.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
2 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Malone was more willing to lean on the trio of second-year players this year, but the Nuggets have gotten stomped in their minutes without three-time MVP Nikola Jokić.—
Bryan Toporek,
Forbes.com,
9 Apr. 2025
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John and Carlile get loud here, stomping and slamming around for a tight little radio-length banger. 75.—
Shana Naomi Krochmal,
Vulture,
4 Apr. 2025
Noun
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One great thing about Hackman is that there was no alteration in the rounded rasp of his voice when the moral conditions changed.—
Anthony Lane,
The New Yorker,
3 Mar. 2025
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The soft rasp of her voice was a surprise, deeper than Sam would have expected from someone so small.—
Maureen Lee Lenker,
EW.com,
12 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Woman Makes 'Creepy' Find In Thrift Store By Alice Gibbs Senior Life and Trends Reporter Newsweek Is A Trust Project Member news article 0 A thrift store shopper from Scotland stumbled on something unexpected in her local store when a beautiful glass paperweight caught her eye.—
Arick Wierson,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Apr. 2025
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Contractors renovating a historic home in Belgium stumbled upon the entrance to a secret tunnel identified by archaeologists as an escape route from World War I.—
Aspen Pflughoeft,
Miami Herald,
14 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Scuff.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scuff. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.
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