Scrubby
/ˈskrʌbi/noun
Covered with or consisting of stunted, rough, brushy growth; also rough or shabby in appearance.
Did you know?Scrubby comes from the same old root as words for rough brush and stunted growth, showing how English often turns the landscape itself into a personality trait.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*skrubbō
“rough brush or scrubby growth”
Old English
OE
scrubbe
“a stunted bush or brush”
Middle English
ME
scrubbi
“covered with scrub; rough and stunted”
17th Century
English
scrubby
“full of scrub; rough, low, or mean in appearance”
Modern English
English
scrubby
“covered with sparse, stunted vegetation; rough or shabby”