scumnoun
uk/skʌm/us/skʌm/scum noun (DIRT)
[ U ] a layer of unpleasant or unwanted material that has formed on the top of a liquid:
The lake near the factory was covered with grey, foul-smelling scum.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Rubbish and waste
- debris
- detritus
- dross
- effluent
- flotsam
- froth
- jetsam
- jumble
- junk
- kitsch
- recycle
- refuse
- rubbish
- rubble
- scrap
- scrap heap
- tat
- upcycle
- upcycling
- waste product
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scum noun (IMMORAL PERSON)
[ C or U ] plural scum informal a very bad or immoral person or group of people:
People who organize dog fights are scum in my opinion!
His boss treats him like scum (= very badly).
racist scum
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Unpleasant people in general
- a dog in the manger idiom
- a nasty piece of work idiom
- a tough/hard nut idiom
- a wolf in sheep's clothing idiom
- bad lot
- intruder
- know-all
- know-it-all
- leech
- make sb's skin crawl idiom
- roadman
- rotter
- runt
- sadist
- scumbag
- undesirables
- vermin
- villain
- villain of the piece idiom
- viper
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scummy
adjective uk/ˈskʌm.i/us/ˈskʌm.i/
Idiom(s)
the scum of the earth