Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Ragged or unkempt.
  • adjective Thin or emaciated.
  • adjective Thin or irregular in form, as a plant.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Having or presenting a rough, irregular, or ragged appearance: as, a scraggly beard.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Rough, scruffy, or unkempt.
  • adjective Jagged or uneven; scraggy.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective lacking neatness or order

Etymologies

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Examples

  • I was always worried about that, so I never grew a beard, just in case I inherited some kind of scraggly beard gene.

    Family Day at AIG's $27 Million Lie - The Panda's Thumb 2007

  • Man wanted over indecent assault in Adelaide's northern suburb POLICE are looking for a man with "scraggly" hair and a closely trimmed moustache after a teenage girl was indecently assaulted in the northern suburbs this morning.

    AustralianIT.com.au | Top Stories 2010

  • Mr Fahey is about 170cm tall, with a fair complexion, blue eyes, a medium build with unkempt, brown, collar-length hair and a "scraggly" beard and moustache, police said.

    NEWS.com.au | Top Stories 2010

  • If you can get your hands on a kind of scraggly lulav at a sukkah supply store (that they sometimes sell in "kids sets", they will most likely let you take off leaves for free, or have some scraps around you can take.

    Jewlicious 2008

  • If you can get your hands on a kind of scraggly lulav at a sukkah supply store (that they sometimes sell in "kids sets", they will most likely let you take off leaves for free, or have some scraps around you can take.

    English-writing Israeli-bloggers 2008

  • In addition, Gaddafi's scraggly hairline was blamed on a botched hair implant sometime in 2008 or 2009.

    Gaddafi is ecccentric but the firm master of his regime, Wikileaks cables say 2011

  • In addition, Gaddafi's scraggly hairline was blamed on a botched hair implant sometime in 2008 or 2009.

    Gaddafi is ecccentric but the firm master of his regime, Wikileaks cables say 2011

  • In that flashing glimpse, even as he reined and spurred to make his own horse leap sidewise out from under, Harley Kennan observed the scratched skin and torn clothing, the wild-burning eyes, and the haggardness under the scraggly growth of beard, of the man-hunted man.

    CHAPTER XXXVI 2010

  • This ramshackle tin-roofed hole in the wall is located at the bottom of a small hill on Gip's scraggly lawn, which makes sense because juke joints are always found on the other side of the tracks in godforsaken places in the middle of nowhere.

    Margie Goldsmith: Driving the Alabama Tornado Away and Singing the Blues Margie Goldsmith 2011

  • This ramshackle tin-roofed hole in the wall is located at the bottom of a small hill on Gip's scraggly lawn, which makes sense because juke joints are always found on the other side of the tracks in godforsaken places in the middle of nowhere.

    Margie Goldsmith: Driving the Alabama Tornado Away and Singing the Blues Margie Goldsmith 2011

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