Scraggly
/ˈskræɡ.li/noun
Thin, uneven, and untidy in a rough or ragged way.
Did you know?Scraggly is likely an expressive formation from the older word scrag, meaning a thin or bony person, which helped give English a whole family of rough, jagged-sounding words.
Etymological Timeline
19th Century
English
scraggly
“Rough, thin, and uneven in appearance”
Early Modern English
English
scraggy
“Bony, lean, or rough-looking”
Middle English
English
scrag
“The neck; later, a thin or bony person”
Old Norse
ON
skrokr
“A bent or twisted shape; something crooked or rough”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*skrukk- / *skrag-
“To be rough, wrinkled, or jagged”