scabrous

adjective

Definition of scabrousnext
as in troublesome

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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

Example 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 Lamar mirrors Nas’s slow build to a scabrous eruption, followed by exhaustion. —Jon Caramanica, New York Times, 25 Nov. 2024 Is this Scott redoing American Gangster as a grand Italian tragedy, or scabrous comedy about a family undone by their ineptitude and excess? —Scott Tobias, Vulture, 20 Nov. 2024 Jacobs wrote the script with these three actors in mind, which was perhaps shocking news to each of them, who play scabrous women who locate the worst characteristics of each other and then blow them up into throwdown fights. —Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 18 Sep. 2024 At nearly three hours, the anthology film was divisive: Some hailed its scabrous take on human nature as brilliant, and others derided it as bloated. —Matt Donnelly, Variety, 21 May 2024 See All Example Sentences for scabrous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scabrous
  1. troublesome
  2. vexing
  3. vexatious
  4. stubborn
  5. troublous
  6. worrisome
  7. complex
  8. recondite
Adjective
  • The Mammoth have the pace and scoring depth to be a troublesome first-round opponent for either Vegas or Edmonton, and there’s a sense that they’re just getting started.
    — Thomas Drance, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2026
  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose parents left Cuba a few years before Fidel Castro took power, has eyed the regime in Havana as one of the world’s most pernicious, inhumane and troublesome.
    — Daniel DePetris, Chicago Tribune, 3 Feb. 2026
Definition of troublesome
Adjective
  • What is Congress doing to create a solution to this vexing, complex problem?
    — Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 9 Feb. 2026
  • On the heels of Mayor Mamdani’s successful election campaign, many New Yorkers are hopeful that some of the city’s most vexing problems will finally get addressed.
    — Jonathan Cohn, New York Daily News, 7 Feb. 2026
Definition of vexing
Adjective
  • Decades later, he was declared a vexatious litigant by the High Court, Federal Court and Queensland Supreme Court, a label that barred him from filing any more claims.
    — Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2025
  • The next morning, there were two vexatious problems.
    — Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune, 27 July 2025
Definition of vexatious
Adjective
  • If that doesn’t solve the problem, try scrubbing stubborn spots with Bar Keeper’s Friend and a nonabrasive sponge.
    — Jessica Elliott, Dallas Morning News, 10 Feb. 2026
  • Rusk recommends using wash and styling products that don’t contain silicones (like dimethicone), which can cause a stubborn coating to accumulate that clogs follicles on the scalp and prevents the hair from absorbing moisturizing ingredients.
    — Rebecca Strong, USA Today, 10 Feb. 2026
Definition of stubborn
Adjective
  • Then there were the ghoulish figures of revolutionary adventurers, the Mexican painter with two pistols in his belt, the men who were carving themselves careers out of these troublous times.
    — John Dos Passos, National Review, 28 Sep. 2020
Definition of troublous
Adjective
  • The sweeping nature of Flock’s surveillance is also worrisome, Robinson said.
    — John Aguilar, Denver Post, 10 Feb. 2026
  • These worrisome economic trends come as new car prices keep pushing higher, currently averaging around $50,000 and forcing many buyers to increasingly stretch out loan lengths.
    — The Detroit News, Chicago Tribune, 9 Feb. 2026
Definition of worrisome
Adjective
  • Overwhelm, already a danger to investigators managing a complex case, isn’t helped by online conspiracy theorists and other noisemakers.
    — Paige Williams, New Yorker, 14 Feb. 2026
  • The two supermassive black holes in the centers of each galaxy fall into orbit together and, like their stellar-mass cousins, can eventually spiral in and combine (though the details of this are a bit complex).
    — Phil Plait, Scientific American, 13 Feb. 2026
Definition of complex
Adjective
  • This includes courses such as the notoriously recondite organic chemistry as well as biology, general chemistry, and physics.
    — Richard Menger MD MPA, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2025
  • 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
Definition of recondite

Browse Nearby Words

scabby
scabrous
scabs
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Scabrous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scabrous. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.

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