This week’s theme
Words used metaphorically

This week’s words
papier-mache
sough
woolgathering
scabby
flagship

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(SKAB-ee)

MEANING:

adjective:
1. Having scabs.
2. Mean or contemptible.

ETYMOLOGY:

From scab, from Old Norse skabb (scab, itch). Earliest documented use: 1526.

NOTES:

The word scab started out as a skin disease, evolved into a word for a crust over a wound, and then figuratively, into a moral disease. Eventually, it was applied to a mean person, especially a strike-breaker. Two other terms for such a person are fink and blackleg.

USAGE:

“Tam felt like a scabby trick was being played on him.”
Clifford Roberts; Dead Nobles; BookBaby; 2014.

See more usage examples of scabby in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: