Word.ws English Dictionary

scurvy

/ˈskɜːvi/US/ˈskɜɹvi/

scurvy adjective: affected or covered with scurf (“skin disease causing flakes of skin to fall off”) or scabs; scurfy, scabby; also, of or relating to a skin disease causing scurf or to scurvy (noun sense 1).

scurvy: affected or covered with scurf (“skin disease causing flakes of skin to fall off”) or scabs;...
Image: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Adjective

scurvy (comparative scurvier, superlative scurviest)

  1. (obsolete) Affected or covered with scurf (“skin disease causing flakes of skin to fall off”) or scabs; scurfy, scabby; also, of or relating to a skin disease causing scurf or to scurvy (noun sense 1).
    • Some wenches come vnlased, / Some hyswyues come vnbrased, / Wyth theyr naked pappes, / That flappes and flappes; / […] / A sorte of foule drabbes / All scuruy with scabbes: […]c. 1517 (date written; published c. 1545), John Skelton, “Here after Foloweth the Booke Called Elynour Rummynge. The Tunnyng of Elynour Rummyng per Skelton Laureat.”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The...
    • The bran of VVheate boiled in ſharpe vineger, and rubbed vpon them that be ſcuruie and mangie, easeth the partie very much.1597, John Gerarde [i.e., John Gerard], “Of Corne”, in The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes. […], London: […] Edm[und] Bollifant, for Bonham and Iohn Norton, →OCLC, book I, page 60
  2. (broadly, obsolete) Of growths on plants: resembling scurf; scurfy.
  3. (archaic, figuratively) Of a person or thing: disgustingly mean; contemptible, despicable, low.
    • a scurvy knave a scurvy trick
    • Iſt not a ſcuruie ieſt, that a man ſhould ieſt himſelfe to death.c. 1587 (date written), [Thomas Kyd], The Spanish Tragedie: […] (Fourth Quarto), London: […] W[illiam] W[hite] for T[homas] Pauier, […], published 1602, →OCLC, Act III, signature F2, verso
  4. (archaic, figuratively) Of the way someone is treated: poor, shabby.

Noun

scurvy (usually uncountable, plural scurvies)

  1. (usually) A disease caused by insufficient intake of vitamin C, leading to the formation of livid spots on the skin, spongy gums, loosening of the teeth, and bleeding into the skin and from almost all mucous membranes; (countable, obsolete) an occurrence of this disease.
    • Our legs now vs deceiue, / ſwolne euery ioint withall, / With this diſeaſe, which, by your leaue, / the Scuruie men doe call.1589, Robert Baker, “The Second Voyage to Guinie, and the Riuer of Selto, Set Out in the Moneth of Nouember 1563, […]”, in Richard Hakluyt, The Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the...
    • [H]ee will go to the ſea, and teare the gold out of the Spaniards throats but he will haue it, byrlady when he comes there, poore ſoule hee lyes in brine in Baliſt, and is lamentable ſicke of the ſcuruies; […]1592, Thomas Nash[e], Pierce Penilesse His Supplication to the Deuill. […], London: […] [John Charlewood for] Richard Ihones, […], →OCLC, signature B2, verso
  2. (countable, derogatory, figuratively, usually) A contemptible or despicable person.
    • Row, row you scurvies, / She'll have us boiled in oil. / Move, move those creaking oars, / until you reach Cape soil.2002, Roy Vincent Buckle, “Sea Shanty: The Ballad of Kate d’Vere”, in Africans and Aliens, Lincoln, Neb.: Writers Club Press, iUniverse, →ISBN, part 2 (Cherchez la Femme), page 76
    • Muppet Treasure Island (1996) Avast! There be no treasure on this island, just a bunch of googly-eyed, synthetic scurvies staging a bastardized retelling of the classic Robert Louis Stevenson adventure.2004 October, “Don’t Go There! Our Desert-island List of Desert Islands where You’d Never Want to be Stranded”, in Sia Michel, editor, Spin, volume 20, number 10, New York, N.Y.: Vibe/Spin Ventures...
  3. (broadly, obsolete, usually) A cattle disease, perhaps affecting the skin.

scurvy meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Tagalog

scurvy in Hindi

disease caused by insufficient intake of vitamin C
स्कर्वी skarvī

scurvy in Tamil

உயிர்ச்சத்து சி பற்றாக்குறை நோய், சரும வியாதி, கேடய உரு, கேவிநோய், அரிநோய்

scurvy in Urdu

گوشت خورہ

scurvy in Tagalog

disease caused by insufficient intake of vitamin C
eskorbuto
More languagesFewer languages
scurvy in Arabic
إِسْقَرْبُوط ʔisqarbūṭ
scurvy in Malay
seriawan, saratan
scurvy in Persian
اسکربوت eskorbut, اسقربوط esqorbut, فسادالدم fesādoldamm
scurvy in Thai
ลักปิดลักเปิด lák-gà-bpìt-lák-gà-bpə̀ət
scurvy in Vietnamese
scorbut

Examples of scurvy in a sentence

  • [W]e only had a scurvy dinner at an alehouse, and he made me go to the tavern, and drink Florence, four and sixpence a flask; damned wine?1711 January 19 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Jonathan Swift, “[Dr. Swift’s Journal to Stella.] Letter XIII.”, in Thomas Sheridan...
  • I have a scurvy touch of old puritanical humour about me.1822, [Walter Scott], chapter VIII, in Peveril of the Peak. […], volume IV, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst...
  • And then as to your ſcurvys, and gouts, rheumatiſms, conſumptions, coughs and catarrhs, tar-vvater and turpentine vvill make you as ſound as a roach.1763 June 20 (first performance), Samuel Foote, The Mayor of Garret. A Comedy, […], London: […] P[aul] Vaillant, […], published 1764...
  • The chief use, however, of the fresh provisions was for the men with the scurvy.1841, R[ichard] H[enry] D[ana], Jr., chapter XXXV, in Two Years before the Mast. […], London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 114:

Synonyms of scurvy

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of scurvy

Forms of scurvy

Adjective
comparativescurvier
superlativescurviest
Noun
pluralscurvies

Origin of scurvy

The adjective is derived from Late Middle English scurvi, scurvy, variants of scurfi (“having scurf, scabby”), from scurf (“skin disease causing scabs or scales; flakes of skin that fall off due to a skin disease, etc.”) + -i (suffix forming adjectives). Scurf is derived from Old English scurf, from Proto-Germanic *skurf- (“to gnaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off, sever; to divide, separate”). By surface analysis, scurf (“skin disease; flakes of skin that fall off due to a skin disease; crust-like formations on the skin”) + -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’ forming adjectives). The noun is derived from the adjective. It was used to translate the similar-sounding Dutch scheurbuik, French scorbut, Middle Low German schorbūk (“scurvy (disease)”), etc.

Words formed from scurvy

Phrases with scurvy

Questions about scurvy

What does scurvy mean?
Scurvy means affected or covered with scurf (“skin disease causing flakes of skin to fall off”) or scabs; scurfy, scabby; also, of or relating to a skin disease causing scurf or to scurvy (noun sense 1).
What is scurvy in Hindi?
Scurvy in Hindi is स्कर्वी (skarvī). See Scurvy meaning in Hindi.
How do you use scurvy in a sentence?
[W]e only had a scurvy dinner at an alehouse, and he made me go to the tavern, and drink Florence, four and sixpence a flask; damned wine?
What part of speech is scurvy?
Scurvy can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce scurvy?
Scurvy is pronounced /ˈskɜːvi/ (UK).

Words near scurvy in the dictionary

  1. scurvier
  2. scurvies
  3. scurviest
  4. scurvily
  5. scurviness
  6. scurvy
  7. scurvy grass
  8. scurvy grasses
  9. scurvy-grass
  10. scurvy-grasses
  11. scurvygrass

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: scurvy (page history and authors); scurvy (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); scurvy (Urdu Wiktionary) (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-scurvy.wav.

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