noun
scruff
An untidy or shabby-looking person.
He arrived looking like a scruff in his stained shirt.
Etymology
Rough stubble and an untidy person share the rough-growth word. Its deeper origin is uncertain; the back-of-neck word is kept separate.
More examples
- Calling someone a scruff was an unkind judgment of that person's appearance.
- The character dismissed the untidy visitor as a scruff.
- She disliked the insult scruff even when used jokingly.
Forms
scruff · scruffs