🇬🇧 Scruffy meaning: English Vocabulary Flash Card

Scruffy means looking messy, untidy, and a little dirty, like when your clothes are all wrinkled, your hair is sticking up everywhere, and you have dust, crumbs, or mud on you. A scruffy person, animal, or thing looks like it really needs a brush, a wash, or some tidying up.

The scruffy snowman had one eye, no nose, and looked like it had melted away from responsibility.

The scruffy pigeon outside looked like it had been fired from a bird shampoo commercial.

The scruffy raccoon stared at us like we were the messy ones.

The scarecrow was supposed to be scary, but it just looked like a very scruffy fashion model.

Our scruffy dog rolled in the yard and came back looking like a walking compost pile.

At dawn a scruffy dog pressed at the door, scruffy ears wet, scruffy paws muddy. A tired man in a scruffy coat blinked, then laughed. He held the dog, scrubbed mud from scruffy fur, warmed it by the stove. By noon the dog looked clean, the man smiled, and the pair sat quietly, no longer scruffy.

This word is at the C2 level, which means it represents the highest mastery of English. It’s often used in specialized or highly formal contexts and helps you communicate with precision and subtlety, much like a native speaker.

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