adjective
-
roughened because of small projections; scaly
-
indelicate, indecent, or salacious
scabrous humour
-
difficult to deal with; knotty
Other Word Forms
- scabrously adverb
- scabrousness noun
- unscabrous adjective
- unscabrously adverb
- unscabrousness noun
Etymology
Origin of scabrous
1575–85; < Latin scab ( e ) r rough + -ous
Explanation
The word scabrous can describe anything that's bumpy and coarse, like your pet iguana or the rough stucco walls in your parents' house. The adjective scabrous is also used to describe things that are considered lewd or obscene, like a scabrous newspaper cartoon that manages to offend everyone who sees it. The Latin root, scaber, means "rough and scaly," and is closely related to scabere, "to scrape."
Vocabulary lists containing scabrous
Crispin: The Cross of Lead
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Fablehaven
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Dune
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That’s an answer NOFX’s fans have come to expect from the front man known for his scabrous humor and irreverent lyrics.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 20, 2026
The theater lost the case, and both “Saved” and Bond’s next play, “Early Morning,” a scabrous satire on British royalty, were banned in Britain.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 5, 2024
His songs blended the scabrous and the sentimental, ranging from carousing anthems to snapshots of life in the gutter to unexpectedly tender love songs.
From Washington Times • Nov. 30, 2023
Closing track Pop The Balloon is a scabrous onslaught of cactus-prick guitar riffs, as the inhabitants fall out and the seeds of revolution are sown.
From BBC • Jul. 5, 2023
A man with scabrous lesions spanning his cheeks stepped forward.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
