Meanings
adjectiveshaggy (comparative shaggier, superlative shaggiest)
comparative shaggier · superlative shaggiest
- Having long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur or wool.
a shaggy dog
2 more examples
They waited until Dorothy awoke the next morning. The little girl was quite frightened when she saw the great pile of shaggy wolves, but the Tin Woodman told her all. She thanked him for saving them and sat down to breakfast, after which they started again upon their journey.
1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLCAway from the village, there was an enclosure containing several large animals of a kind I had not seen before—shaggy, long-necked, small-headed creatures who stood or lay at ease around their pen. Alpacas?
1989, Octavia E. Butler, “Part III, Chapter 7”, in Imago, page 210 - Having a surface like shaggy hair; with a rough nap.
- figurativelyConfused, muddled.
Universal and Blumhouse’s M3gan is exactly the right amount of ridiculous, which is why it can afford to be a little shaggy toward the end.
2023 January 6, Charles Pulliam-Moore, “M3gan is a midrange delight about the horrors of 21st-century parenting”, in The Verge, archived from the original on 15 Sep 2023
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishsċeacga
- Middle English*schagge
- Englishshag
- Englishshaggy
Translations
Ancient Greek δασύς, λάσιος
- δασύς (dasús)with long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- λάσιος (lásios)with long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- βλοσυρός (blosurós)with long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
Arabic أَشْعَث
- أَشْعَث (ʔašʕaṯ)with long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
Bulgarian чорлав, рунтав
- чорлав (čorlav)with long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- рунтав (runtav)with long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- мъхнат (măhnat)with a surface like shaggy hair; rough nap
Czech huňatý, chundelatý
- huňatýwith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- chundelatýwith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- střapatýwith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
Esperanto hirta
- hirtawith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
Finnish takkuinen, pörröinen
- takkuinenwith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- pörröinenwith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- karkeawith a surface like shaggy hair; rough nap
French hirsute
- hirsutewith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
German zottelig, zottig
- zotteligwith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- zottigwith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- zottelhaarigwith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- struppigwith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- strubbeligwith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- zerzaustwith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
Hungarian kócos, bozontos
- kócoswith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- bozontoswith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
Irish mosach, suasánach
- mosachwith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- suasánachwith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- gliobachwith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
Italian ispido, irsuto
- ispidowith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- irsutowith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- villosowith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- pelosowith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- cappellutowith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- arruffatowith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- scapigliatowith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- spettinatowith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- ruvidowith a surface like shaggy hair; rough nap
Latin hispidus, villōsus
- hispiduswith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- villōsuswith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
Māori tuahuru, pūhutihuti
- tuahuruwith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- pūhutihutiwith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
Polish kudłaty, kosmaty
- kudłatywith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- kosmatywith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- rozczochranywith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- potarganywith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
Portuguese felpudo, desgrenhado
- felpudowith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- desgrenhadowith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
Russian косма́тый, мохна́тый
- косма́тый (kosmátyj)with long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- мохна́тый (moxnátyj)with long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- лохма́тый (loxmátyj)with long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- патла́тый (patlátyj)with long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
Scottish Gaelic giobach, molach
- giobachwith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- molachwith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- giobachwith a surface like shaggy hair; rough nap
Spanish greñudo, desgreñado
- greñudowith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- desgreñadowith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- despeinadowith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- desmelenadowith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- chascónwith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
Swedish raggig, lurvig
- raggigwith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- lurvigwith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- rufsigwith long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
Ukrainian кудлатий, кошлатий
- кудлатий (kudlatyj)with long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- кошлатий (košlatyj)with long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- волохатий (voloxatyj)with long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
- патлатий (patlatyj)with long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with shaggy
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
shaggy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shaggy
MLA
“shaggy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shaggy. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shaggy,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shaggy.
Source: shaggy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.