scrubby

American  

[skruhb-ee] / ˈskrʌb i /

adjective

scrubbier, scrubbiest

1. low or stunted, as trees.

2. consisting of or covered with scrub, stunted trees, etc.

3. undersized or inferior, as animals.

4. wretched; shabby.

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scrubby British  

/ ˈskrʌbɪ /

adjective

1. covered with or consisting of scrub

2. (of trees or vegetation) stunted in growth

3. informal messy

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Other Word Forms

• scrubbily adverb
• scrubbiness noun

Etymology

Origin of scrubby

First recorded in 1745–55; scrub ² + -y ¹

Example Sentences

Kharg Island, targeted in US air strikes on Saturday, is a scrubby stretch of land in the Gulf that handles almost all of Iran's crude exports.

From Barron's • Mar. 14, 2026

To reach Australia’s pole in 2022, Brown flew to a town in the interior desert, rented a 4X4 and off-roaded across scrubby ranchland.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 23, 2026

She says she had been stuck in France for two months, after travelling there from Vietnam via Hungary, sleeping in tents in a scrubby forest.

From BBC • Jan. 5, 2025

Setting fires in the Sandhills of central North Carolina requires an understanding of moisture levels in the scrubby underbrush, and she gets a better sense of it in bare feet.

From Salon • Oct. 20, 2024

She read it three more times that night, lying on the top bunk, petting the scrubby old cat.

From "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell