scragglyadj.
/ˈskraɡli/, /ˈskraɡl̩i/, U.S. /ˈskræɡ(ə)li/ Chiefly U.S.in combination.1889 M. E. Wilkins Far-away Melody (1890) 28 The walls..had a scraggly-patterned paper on them.
Irregular or ragged in growth or form; scraggy.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > [adjective]
unevenc1275
rudea1393
craggeda1400
knaggedc1430
raggedc1450
raggy1483
cocklya1529
rugged1528
knaggy1552
unlevel?a1560
craggy1568
scraggy1574
balkish1577
cockling1582
cockled1600
unequal1613
salebrous1633
scragged1641
inequal1661
unevenly1683
hummocky1767
snaggly1794
snaggy1806
hobblya1825
shreddy1835
scraggly1869
bobbly1909
pebbly1923
snaggled1938
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > confusion or disorder > untidiness > [adjective] > of person, clothes, etc.
rowsey1565
slovenlya1568
sloven-like1569
uncompta1641
frowzy1710
blowzed1766
blowzyc1770
tousy1786
frowzled1808
sloven1821
hashy1825
tously1832
tousled1847
tuzzy-muzzy1847
unsleek1859
tousled-looking1860
slouchy1864
scraggly1869
frowzly1872
sploshy1881
schlumpy1956
streelish1974
1869 H. B. Stowe Oldtown Folks xlii. 534 That's all we scraggly old people are good for.
1879 A. W. Tourgée Fool's Errand vii. 26 He had a long scraggly beard.
1892 Harper's Mag. Dec. 115/1 I watched her struggling up the..hillside, passing in and out of sight among the scraggly pines.
1946 C. McCullers Member of Wedding ii. 57 A street preacher..was preaching on a corner to a group of warehouse coloured boys and scraggly children.
1959 T. Griffith Waist-high Culture (1960) 172 We are like an animal that casts off its skins too quickly; no wonder we look scraggly.
1976 National Observer (U.S.) 13 Mar. 12/3 At least I'm not spread-eagled any more in my skivvies and scraggly black socks.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1869