different between scabrous vs scabrously

English

Etymology

From Latin scaber (“scabrous, rough; scabby, mangy, itchy”) (from scab? (“to scratch, scrape, abrade”), from Proto-Indo-European *skab?- (“to scratch”)) + English -ous; compare French scabreux, Late Latin scabr?sus.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?ske?b??s/, /?ska-/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?skæb??s/, /?ske?-/
• Hyphenation: sca?brous

Adjective

scabrous (comparative more scabrous, superlative most scabrous)

1. Covered with scales or scabs; hence, very coarse or rough.

   Synonyms: scabby, scaly, scurfy; see also Thesaurus:scabby, Thesaurus:rough
2. (figuratively) Disgusting, repellent.

   Synonyms: repulsive, vile; see also Thesaurus:unpleasant
3. (figuratively) Of music, writing, etc.: lacking refinement; unmelodious, unmusical.

   Synonyms: harsh, rough; see also Thesaurus:cacophonous

   • 1693, John Dryden, “The Dedication”, in Juvenal; Persius; John Dryden, [William Congreve, and Nahum Tate], transl., The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […], London: Printed for Jacob Tonson […], ?OCLC, page xxx:

     [A]s his Verse is ?cabrous, and hobbling, and his Words not every where well cho?en, the purity of Latin being more corrupted, than in the time of Juvenal, and con?equently of Horace, who writ when the Language was in the heighth of its perfection; ?o his diction is hard; his Figures are generally too bold and daring; and his Tropes, particularly his Metaphors, in?ufferably ?train'd.
4. (figuratively) Difficult, thorny, troublesome.
5. (figuratively, chiefly US) Covered with a crust of dirt or grime.

Derived terms

• scabrously
• scabrousness

Related terms

• scab
• scaberulous
• scabies

Translations

Further reading

• “scabrous”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.

English

Etymology

scabrous +? -ly

Adverb

scabrously (comparative more scabrously, superlative most scabrously)

1. In a scabrous way.