scrubby

comparative scrubbier · superlative scrubbiest

1. Covered with or consisting of scrub.

   a scrubby landscape

2. Inferior in size or quality.

   scrubby crops

   4 more examples

   scrubby cattle

   This sort of literary slop-work will not suffice for your walking in the roads of life to any good purpose. It is bad work. It is scrubby work.

   1883, Hargrave Jennings, The Childishness and Brutality of the Time

   Too little Potash in the fertilizer used produces a "scrubby" crop, just as a lack of sufficient grain fed to stock means a "scrubby" animal. Free: An illustrated book which tells what Potash is, how it should be used, and how much Potash a well-balanced fertilizer should contain, is sent free to all applicants. Send your address. GERMAN KALI WORKS, 92 Nassau St., New York.

   1897 July 17, “Potash. [booklet advertisement]”, in The Farmer's Guide: A Weekly Journal of Progressive Agriculture, volume 9, number 29, Huntington, Indiana: The Guide Publishing Company, page 6

   The red clay of Oklahoma and the sands of the west Texas desert country produce scrubby crops, oil and football players. For the hardy, lean and tough people who inhabit this country, the crops are a last resort, oil a hopeful dream and football a religion.

   1957 November 18, Tex Maule, “A+$+X+F+B = Invincibility. This Formula Belongs to Oklahoma, Where It Was Developed to Equate With Unbeatable Football. It Is Explained Below”, in Sports Illustrated

   Synonyms: mid, second-rate, sorry, ass, bad, base, below par, bottom-shelf

plural scrubbies · alternative scrubbie

1. diminutiveDiminutive of scrubber: a small scrubber for light washing tasks.

   dish scrubby

   1 more example

   shower scrubby

2. informala loofah.