Word.ws English Dictionary

scums

scums is the plural of scum.

Meaning of scum

Noun

scum (countable and uncountable, plural scums or scum)

  1. (uncountable) A layer of impurities that accumulates at the surface of a liquid (especially molten metal or water).
    • During smelting, scum rises to the surface and is then removed by the smelter.
  2. (uncountable) A greenish water vegetation (such as algae), usually found floating on the surface of ponds
    • These organisms form scum in large quantities.
  3. The topmost liquid layer of a cesspool or septic tank.
  4. (US, slang, uncountable) Semen.
    • Horse, who was always talking about facts, said, “Man, that can't be scum, ’cause scum is white.”1965, Claude Brown, Manchild in the Promised Land, New York: New American Library, →OCLC, page 80
  5. (derogatory, slang) A reprehensible person or persons.
    • People who sell used-up pens are scum, just total low-lives.

See all 11 meanings of scum

Questions about scums

What is scums the plural of?
Scums is the plural of scum.

Words near scums in the dictionary

  1. scummish
  2. scummy
  3. scummy mummies
  4. scummy mummy
  5. Scumpia
  6. scums
  7. scumshit
  8. scumshits
  9. scumsucker
  10. scumsuckers
  11. scumsucking

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: scums (page history and authors); scum (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “scums.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/scums. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.