scurrilous

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UK/ˈskʌ.ɹə.ləs/UK/ˈskʌ.ɹɪ.ləs/US/ˈskɜɹələs/US/ˈskʌɹələs/

adjective

Of a person, given to vulgar verbal abuse; foul-mouthed.

UncommonScrabble 12

Meanings

adjectivescurrilous (comparative more scurrilous, superlative most scurrilous)

comparative more scurrilous · superlative most scurrilous

  1. Of a person, given to vulgar verbal abuse; foul-mouthed.
  2. Of language:
    1. Coarse, vulgar, or abusive.
    2. Slanderous.

      She said Johnson was “a better man than many of your detractors will ever understand”, adding that it was “so desperately sad that you let yourself down by making a scurrilous accusation against the leader of the opposition”.

      2022 February 3, Heather Stewart, quoting Munira Mirza, “Boris Johnson’s policy chief quits over PM’s ‘scurrilous’ Savile remark”, in The Guardian
  3. Unscrupulous, evil.

    We have had our address used by scurrilous crooks in the past to gain assets by fraud.

    2 more examples

    "Instead, another dangerous killer now roams our streets, thanks to that scurrilous, sinister super-heel!"

    1967, Stan Lee, John Romita Sr, The Amazing Spider-Man #48

    "Some days, I try to imagine how scurrilous it would be for a left-leaning government in Canada to embark on such a costly political agenda for, say, a 10-year period, and still find itself unable to convince Canadians that the majority have benefited from this."

    2013, Alex Himelfarb, Jordan Himelfarb, Tax Is Not a Four-Letter Word: A Different Take on Taxes in Canada

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveexpressing offensive reproach

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinscurrīlis“buffoon-like”
  2. Englishscurrilous

From Latin scurrīlis (“buffoon-like”) + -ous, from scurra (“a buffoon”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian мръсен, неприличен
  • мръсен (mrăsen)foul-mouthed
  • неприличен (nepriličen)foul-mouthed
  • циничен (ciničen)coarse, vulgar, abusive, or slanderous
  • вулгарен (vulgaren)coarse, vulgar, abusive, or slanderous
Danish sjofel, grov
  • sjofelfoul-mouthed
  • grovfoul-mouthed
  • grovcoarse, vulgar, abusive, or slanderous
  • uanstændigcoarse, vulgar, abusive, or slanderous
  • krænkendecoarse, vulgar, abusive, or slanderous
Dutch grofgebekt, vulgair
  • grofgebektfoul-mouthed
  • vulgaircoarse, vulgar, abusive, or slanderous
  • grofcoarse, vulgar, abusive, or slanderous
Finnish rääväsuinen, ruokoton
  • rääväsuinenfoul-mouthed
  • ruokotonfoul-mouthed
  • ruokotoncoarse, vulgar, abusive, or slanderous
German ordinär, flegelhaft
  • ordinärfoul-mouthed
  • flegelhaftfoul-mouthed
  • pöbelhaftfoul-mouthed
  • niederträchtigfoul-mouthed
  • gemeinfoul-mouthed
  • possenreißerischfoul-mouthed
  • zotigfoul-mouthed
  • vulgärcoarse, vulgar, abusive, or slanderous
  • obszöncoarse, vulgar, abusive, or slanderous
  • ehrenrührigcoarse, vulgar, abusive, or slanderous
  • verleumderischcoarse, vulgar, abusive, or slanderous
  • unflätigcoarse, vulgar, abusive, or slanderous
Latin scurrīlis
  • scurrīliscoarse, vulgar, abusive, or slanderous
Māori ngutu momoho, ngutu momoho
  • ngutu momohofoul-mouthed
  • ngutu momohocoarse, vulgar, abusive, or slanderous
Norwegian Bokmål grov, nederdrektig
  • grovfoul-mouthed
  • nederdrektigfoul-mouthed
  • plumpcoarse, vulgar, abusive, or slanderous
  • vulgærcoarse, vulgar, abusive, or slanderous
  • sladderaktigcoarse, vulgar, abusive, or slanderous
Portuguese obsceno, obsceno
  • obscenofoul-mouthed
  • obscenocoarse, vulgar, abusive, or slanderous
Romanian injurios, obscen
  • injuriosfoul-mouthed
  • obscenfoul-mouthed
  • ordinarfoul-mouthed
  • abuzivfoul-mouthed
Russian оскорби́тельный, гру́бый
  • оскорби́тельный (oskorbítelʹnyj)foul-mouthed
  • гру́бый (grúbyj)foul-mouthed
  • непристо́йный (nepristójnyj)coarse, vulgar, abusive, or slanderous
  • гру́бый (grúbyj)coarse, vulgar, abusive, or slanderous
  • ме́рзкий (mérzkij)gross, vulgar and evil
Cite this entry
APA

scurrilous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scurrilous

MLA

“scurrilous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scurrilous. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “scurrilous,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scurrilous.

Source: scurrilous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.