scraggly
adjective
scrag·gly ˈskra-g(ə-)lē 
: irregular in form or growth
scraggly hills
a scraggly beard
also : unkempt
Synonyms
- broken
- craggy
- jagged
- ragged
- scraggy
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web For the red seaweed Gracilaria gracilis, which grows in scraggly clumps, this is a particular problem. 
Jack Tamisiea, Scientific American, 28 July 2022 O’Neal pulled off the road next to some open land studded with scraggly bushes. Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2022 By the time the school day began, a scraggly line of kids and their parents stretched out the door, down the hallway, and outside into the sunshine. Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 10 Nov. 2021 Before purchasing a wagonload of rose plants, and then scratching your head over what to do with those scraggly things, read up for tips on how to prepare a proper home for your rose bushes. Patricia S York, Southern Living, 25 Mar. 2021 But the truth is, turkeys really only need a couple of scraggly ones to roost in. Gerald Almy, Field & Stream, 19 Mar. 2021 On a scraggly patch of grass astride the Grand Central Parkway, a screen had been set up. Washington Post, 16 Oct. 2020 But this grouse buckled at my shot and kept climbing, over the scraggly cedars and through the wispy tops of the bare birches. The Editors, Field & Stream, 18 May 2020 On an unseasonably warm November morning in 2016, Youngstown’s business and political leaders crowded onto a small, scraggly plot of land on the Ohio city’s long-suffering East Side. Desperation Town, ProPublica, 11 May 2020 See More
Jack Tamisiea, Scientific American, 28 July 2022 O’Neal pulled off the road next to some open land studded with scraggly bushes. Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2022 By the time the school day began, a scraggly line of kids and their parents stretched out the door, down the hallway, and outside into the sunshine. Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 10 Nov. 2021 Before purchasing a wagonload of rose plants, and then scratching your head over what to do with those scraggly things, read up for tips on how to prepare a proper home for your rose bushes. Patricia S York, Southern Living, 25 Mar. 2021 But the truth is, turkeys really only need a couple of scraggly ones to roost in. Gerald Almy, Field & Stream, 19 Mar. 2021 On a scraggly patch of grass astride the Grand Central Parkway, a screen had been set up. Washington Post, 16 Oct. 2020 But this grouse buckled at my shot and kept climbing, over the scraggly cedars and through the wispy tops of the bare birches. The Editors, Field & Stream, 18 May 2020 On an unseasonably warm November morning in 2016, Youngstown’s business and political leaders crowded onto a small, scraggly plot of land on the Ohio city’s long-suffering East Side. Desperation Town, ProPublica, 11 May 2020 See More Word History
Etymology
alteration of scraggling, perhaps irregular from scraggy entry 2
First Known Use
1849, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
scraggly
adjective
scrag·gly ˈskrag-lē
ˈskra-gə-
scragglier; scraggliest
: of rough or uneven outline : unkempt
a scraggly beard
scraggly
adjective
as in jagged
having an uneven edge or outline a scraggly little tree Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- jagged
- ragged
- scraggy
- craggy
- broken
- rugged
- serrate
- serrated
- roughened
- rough
- harsh
- saw-toothed
- coarse
- irregular
- bumpy
- nonuniform
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- soft
- clean
- smooth
- uniform
- even
- regular
- unbroken
- flat
- level
- flush
- plane