scratchyadj.
/ˈskratʃi/, U.S. /ˈskrætʃi/ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of horses > [adjective] > disorders of feet or hooves
broken-hoofed1362
afounded?a1425
foundered1543
pumiced1566
hoof-bound1598
fretished1607
incastellated1611
wired1614
gravelled1630
grease-fallen1688
greasy1701
incastled1706
greased1710
scratchy1710
retraised1725
hot-footed1740
twitter-boned1760
quittered1778
thrushy1831
1710 London Gaz. No. 4788/4 Lost.., a..Mare.., her Legs very hairy and scrachy.
1800 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 3 294 Being well fed, or want of exercise, will frequently excite swellings, which are by no means connected with a scratchy heel.
2. Of work executed with the pen or brush: Composed of scratches, as opposed to bold, firm lines.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > qualities or styles of painting > [adjective] > other qualities or styles
plangent1666
dry1695
sticky1753
flat1755
spotty1798
touchy1809
definitive1815
edgy1825
painty1827
scratchy1827
unideal1838
tinglish1855
generalist1858
tinny1877
Christmas-cardy1883
tinty1883
surfacy1887
chocolate box1892
chocolate-boxy1894
Christmas card1895
juicy1897
candy box1898
pastose1901
busy1909
pompier1914
posterish1914
painterly1932
X-ray1940
illusional1942
all-over1948
figurative1960
hard-edge1961
1827 T. Hood Progress of Art ii Some scratchy strokes..Suffic'd for my design.
1866 J. W. Carlyle Lett. III. 332 Such a scratchy, illegible hand.
1892 Nation 29 Dec. 502/2 The illustrations are..occasionally scratchy.
3. Of hair: Scanty, straggling.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > hair > types of hair > [adjective] > thin, lank
sheerc1400
slank1668
flaggish1669
scratchy1820
stringy1956
1820 L. Hunt Indicator No. 46 (1822) I. 371 His mane is scratchy and lax.
4.
a. Apt to scratch.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > projection or prominence > sharp unevenness > [adjective] > apt to scratch
scratchy1866
1866 T. O. Cockayne Leechdoms, Wortcunning & Starcraft III. 402 This interlineation.. has been written with a scratchy pen.
1874 J. A. Symonds Sketches Italy & Greece (1898) I. viii. 145 He swept the frescoes over with a scratchy broom.
b. Of sound: rough, grating. Of a sound-recording: characterized by scratch (scratch n.1 6b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > unpleasant quality > harsh or discordant quality > [adjective] > scratching or scraping
raspish1847
scraping1879
scratchy1889
scrapy1890
scritchy1951
society > communication > record > recording or reproducing sound or visual material > sound recording and reproduction > [adjective] > quality of reproduced sound
phonogenic1923
woofy1932
high fidelity1933
lo-fi1954
scratchy1961
scratchless1978
ambient1990
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > continuous or protracted sound > sibilant sound > [adjective] > on recording
scratchy1961
1889 Cent. Dict. (at cited word) A scratchy noise.
1961 Webster's 3rd New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. (at cited word) Scratchy tune came from the phonograph.
1961 L. Hughes Ask your Mama 3 In the quarter of the negroes Where the doors are doors of paper Dust of dingy atoms Blows a scratchy sound.
1976 ‘W. Trevor’ Children of Dynmouth ii. 43 He told Stephen to sit on it, in a voice that wasn't as scratchy as usually it was.
1977 Film & Television Technician Jan. 5/2 He precariously wound up the oldest gramophone this side of the Urals so that we might hear a scratchy 78 recording of some Russian choir singing the Creed.
1978 Oxf. Times 17 Feb. (City ed.) 19 The mono recordings are primitive and scratchy.
c. figurative. Ill-tempered, peevish, catty.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > anger > irascibility > ill-naturedness > [adjective]
stour1303
thwarta1325
elvishc1386
wrawc1386
wrawfulc1386
crabbeda1400
crousea1400
cursedc1400
doggeda1425
currishc1460
disagreeable1474
dour1488
thrawn1488
terne?1507
apirsmarta1522
crustyc1570
incommodious1570
bilious1571
mischievous-stomached1577
thrawn-faced1578
thrawn-mowit1578
wearisha1586
shrewish1596
rhubarbative1600
crabbish1606
ill-tempereda1616
cur-like1627
thrawn-faceda1628
terned1638
cross1639
splenial1641
frumpish1647
wry1649
bad-tempered1671
hot-tempered1673
sidy1673
ugly1687
ornery1692
cankerya1699
ramgunshoch1721
cantankerousc1736
frumpy1746
unhappy1756
grumpy1778
crabby1791
grumpish1797
thraw-gabbit18..
snarlish1813
cranky1821
stuntya1825
ill-natured1825
nattery1825
rantankerous1832
foul-tempered1835
cacochymical1836
as cross as two sticks1842
grumphy1846
knappy1855
carnaptious1858
cussed1858
three-cornered1863
snotty1870
sniffy1871
snorty1893
grouchy1895
scratchy1925
tight1950
stroppy1951
snitty1978
arsey1989
1925 E. H. Young William xxxii. 277 I'm no heroine. I'm a nasty, scratchy, impatient little beast.
1928 J. Sutherland Knot xvi. 210 Very well—but you are rather scratchy, and I'm feeling horrible.
1936 L. C. Douglas White Banners viii. 180 But if she was going to write him any more scratchy letters..it might turn out badly.
1949 N. Marsh Swing, Brother, Swing ix. 214 We're both scratchy. I told her I thought the unfortunate Rivera was ghastly and she thinks I'm shaking my curls at Mr. Alleyn.
1958 Spectator 27 June 835/2 The small, scratchy, pert, unhappy son.
1971 P. Purser Holy Father's Navy i. ii. 11 Irby..was a bit scratchy. She said, ‘Why is it we can never go anywhere on time?’
1977 ‘J. le Carré’ Honourable Schoolboy i. 31 Nor did the dwarf's own..version meet with much success, which made him very scratchy.
5. Sport. Of action: Ill-sustained, uneven, ‘ragged’. Also transferred.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > frequency > infrequency > [adjective] > intermittent or irregular
chopping1483
wavering1488
interpolate1547
suspensive1575
off and on1583
remitting1583
intermissive1586
fluttering1590
aguisha1602
intermittent1603
irregular1608
broken1629
intermitting1643
serratile1707
serrine1707
scattering1709
serratic1753
now-and-then1762
remittent1791
fitful1810
non-periodic1836
spasmodic1837
startful1837
interlusory1853
heterochronic1854
heterochronous1854
between-whiles1859
snatchy1861
sporadic1861
spasmodical1864
catchy1869
pauseful1877
aperiodic1879
scratchy1881
nervy1884
spurty1894
off-again on-again1923
on-again off-again1946
on-off1949
society > leisure > sport > types of play, actions, or postures > [adjective] > other actions or types of play
short1545
standing1728
unpenetrative1795
loose1802
scratched1869
cannonball1872
scratchy1881
punishable1910
wrong-footing1928
open1934
overhead1938
power1959
run-and-gun1960
tight1961
1881 Sportsman's Year-bk. 100 Over a short course, where a fast, scratchy stroke often gets a bad boat home in front.
1894 Field 9 June 829/1 Galston's action was of a scratchy character, and Sempronius did not look at his best.
1908 Daily Chron. 2 Apr. 6/5 The Dark Blues did several starts, some of which were scratchy and some were good.
1933 J. B. Priestley Wonder Hero ii. 36 He had taken her away from her bed-sitting room and scratchy living, and had made her queen it in a fine service flat in Knightsbridge.
Derivatives
ˈscratchily adv.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of play, actions, or postures > [adverb]
defensively1777
foul1833
long1839
scratchily1927
unplayably1955
society > communication > record > recording or reproducing sound or visual material > sound recording and reproduction > [adverb] > quality of reproduced sound
scratchily1927
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > unpleasant quality > harsh or discordant quality > [adverb] > scratching or scraping
scratchinglya1586
scratch1848
scratchily1927
1927 Daily Express 27 May 13/2 Wethered,..reaching the turn rather scratchily in forty-two, stood one down.
1975 R. L. Duncan Dragons at Gate (1976) i. 27 Chamber music drifting scratchily from an old Victrola.
Draft additions 1993
d. Demanding relief by or as if by scratching, itchy.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > [adjective] > irritating > itching
pruriginous?a1425
yukinga1449
itchful1530
itchy1530
itching1665
yuky1719
prurient1796
scritchy1929
scratchy1943
1943 A. Ransome Picts & Martyrs xiii. 120 I..saw him uncurl his proboscis and shove it in and start sucking blood up out of the back of my hand... It was scratchy afterwards.
1970 A. Tyler Slipping-Down Life viii. 112 My eyelids feel scratchy.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.1710