different between scraggly vs messy

English

Etymology

As if from a verb *scraggle (in turn from scrag).

Adjective

scraggly (comparative scragglier, superlative scraggliest)

1. Rough, scruffy, or unkempt.
   • 1913, Jack London, John Barleycorn, ch. 31:

     The sunburn of my face, what little of it could be seen through a scraggly growth of beard, had faded to a sickly yellow.

   • 1980 Nov. 24, John Skow, "In Arizona: A Million Dollar Sale of Cowboy Art," Time:

     What he painted was scenes of the Old West, cowboys and Indians, cattle and horses. Pictures scraggly with sagebrush.

2. Jagged or uneven; scraggy.
   • 1916, Annie Fellows Johnston, Georgina of the Rainbows, ch. 24:

     She would be so happy . . . that she wouldn't notice the spelling or the scraggly writing.

   • 2001 Sep. 7, Christopher John Farley, "At the MTV Awards: Redheads and Circuses," Time:

     "I have no idea," the young woman said, checking over the scraggly illegible signature the mystery woman had left her in her autograph book.

Derived terms

• scraggliness

Translations

English

Etymology

From mess +? -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?si/
• Rhymes: -?si
• Hyphenation: messy
• Homophone: Messi

Adjective

messy (comparative messier, superlative messiest)

1. (of a place, situation, person, etc) In a disorderly state; chaotic; disorderly.

2. (of a person) Prone to causing mess.

3. (of a situation) Difficult or unpleasant to deal with.

Synonyms

(in a disorderly state): untidy, chaotic, disorderly, cluttered

Antonyms

• neat
• orderly

Derived terms

• messily
• messiness

Descendants

• ? German: Messie

Translations

Further reading

• messy in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• messy at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Symes

Middle English

Noun

messy

1. Alternative form of messe