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
The new auteurs of the 1990s reflected a broader shift in tone across the culture toward something scruffier and more disillusioned—the cinematic equivalent of Nirvana on the radio and Marc Jacobs’s Perry Ellis grunge collection on the runway.
—
Maxwell Adler, Vanity Fair, 19 Mar. 2026
Cast your mind back to summer 2019, a pre-Covid era when we were all hooked on Euphoria season one and the high school exploits of protagonist Rue, played by a scruffy Zendaya, all basketball shorts and tangled hair.
—Olivia Allen, Vogue, 17 Mar. 2026
Its messiness is also in step with 2020s hyperpop—scruffy, topsy-turvy electronic music that seeks to harness, not counteract, modern overstimulation.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 11 Mar. 2026
One day in January 1766, a scruffy visitor turns up at Prince of Wales’ Fort, a remote trading post of the Hudson’s Bay Company in what is now northern Manitoba.
—Malcolm Forbes, Washington Post, 22 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for scruffy
Maxwell Adler, Vanity Fair, 19 Mar. 2026
Cast your mind back to summer 2019, a pre-Covid era when we were all hooked on Euphoria season one and the high school exploits of protagonist Rue, played by a scruffy Zendaya, all basketball shorts and tangled hair.
—Olivia Allen, Vogue, 17 Mar. 2026
Its messiness is also in step with 2020s hyperpop—scruffy, topsy-turvy electronic music that seeks to harness, not counteract, modern overstimulation.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 11 Mar. 2026
One day in January 1766, a scruffy visitor turns up at Prince of Wales’ Fort, a remote trading post of the Hudson’s Bay Company in what is now northern Manitoba.
—Malcolm Forbes, Washington Post, 22 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for scruffy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scruffy
Adjective
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Longtime Oak Lawn Village Board member Timothy Desmond has resigned from his post to enter into a contract with the village through his home building company to restore dilapidated properties, with the goal of putting them back on the tax rolls.—
Olivia Stevens,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Apr. 2026
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The newborn lived in a dank and dilapidated enclosure alongside seven other lions, including his parents, Kim and Carl, said Rebecca Aldworth, executive director of Humane World for Animals Canada, whose organization helped shut down the zoo and rescue the lions.—
Andrea Sachs,
Washington Post,
25 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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For patients living with rare and neglected diseases, the next breakthrough treatment might already be sitting in a pharmaceutical company’s filing cabinet.—
Annette Bakker,
Fortune,
19 Mar. 2026
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When first performed at L.A. Opera a decade ago, the lavish production, co-produced with English National Opera, helped recover a neglected opera.—
Classical Music Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Scruffy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scruffy. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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