scabrous
adjective
Simple meaning
Covered with scales or scabs.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
skabruhsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈskæbɹəs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Covered with scales or scabs; hence, very coarse or rough.
figurative
Salacious, scandalous; concerning oneself with lurid or lascivious substance.
figurative
Disgusting, repellent.
figurative
Difficult, thorny, troublesome, requiring tact.
figurative
Of music, writing, etc.: lacking refinement; unmelodious, unmusical.
figurativechiefly us
Covered with a crust of dirt or grime.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Covered with scales or scabs; hence, very coarse or rough.
Used this way, scabrous is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.