scrofulous

Adjective

scrofulous (comparative more scrofulous, superlative most scrofulous)

1. (dated) Of, related to, or suffering from scrofula (form of tuberculosis tending to cause enlarged lymph nodes and skin inflammation).
   • On the ſurface of the water there floats a liquid bitumen, although it be every day ſcummed off, as it doth on the lake Aſphaltites in Judæa: The Inhabitants uſe it as pitch: it is alſo found to be an excellent vulnerary, and good in curing old cacoethic and ſcrophulous ulcers.1757, John Rutty, A Methodical Synopsis of Mineral Waters, Comprehending the Most Celebrated Medicinal Waters, both Cold and Hot, of Great-Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, and Italy, and several...
   • The proſtate gland is ſometimes ſcrofulous. I have ſeen, in cutting into it, preciſely the ſame white curdly matter, which takes place in a ſcrofulous abſorbent gland. In ſqueezing it alſo, I have forced from out from its ducts a ſcrofulous pus.1794 August, Matthew Baillie, “Art. VII. The Morbid Anatomy of Some of the Most Important Parts of the Human Body. By Matthew Baillie, M.D. F.R.S. Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, and...
2. (figuratively) Having an unkempt, unhealthy appearance.
   • Poor devil, he's gone to the dogs altogether. He's got some twopenny-halfpenny job in the medical at Alexandria—sanitary officer or something like that. I'm told he lives with an ugly old Greek woman and has half a dozen scrofulous kids.1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter L, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC, page 264
   • […] I wrestle with the events of the last two years, picking over the past, looking for the reasons why I find myself here, gazing across a multitude of day trippers, sunburned holidaymakers, squalling children, ignorant matrons perusing their puzzle magazines, scrofulous bank clerks...2007, John Walsh, chapter 1, in Sunday at the Cross Bones, London: Fourth Estate, →ISBN
3. (figuratively) Morally degenerate; corrupt.
   • a scrofulous politician
   • It is time, [Steve] Huffman concluded, for the “reprehensible” denizens of the Internet’s scrofulous “dark side” to find another home.2015 July 15, Charles C. W. Cooke, “No More Free Speech on Reddit: The News-and-opinion Website’s Founder may End Up Destroying the Site in order to ‘Save’ It”, in National Review, New York, N.Y....