scruff

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/skɹʌf/

• Audio(Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-ʌf

Etymology 1

Seescurf.

Noun

scruff(countableanduncountable,pluralscruffs)

1. Someone with anuntidyappearance.

   That candidate will never get the job: he's a rightscruff.

2. Stubble,facial hair(on males).
3. (obsolete)Crust.
4. (obsolete)Scurf.

Derived terms

• Apple scruff
• scruffy

Translations

Someone with an untidy appearance

• Bulgarian:мърльоm(mǎrljo)
• Finnish:törkimys(fi),epäsiisti henkilö
• German:Schmutzfink(de)m
• Polish:brudas(pl)m,niedomytekm,kocmołuch(pl)m,fleja(pl)f,flejtuch(pl)m,prosię(pl)n,świntuch(pl)m,szuszwol(pl)m(dialectal, Greater Poland),niechluj(pl)m
• Spanish:zarrapastroso(es)

Etymology 2

A kitten being carried by itsscruff.

1790, from earlier (1787)scuft,influenced byscruff(“crust”).Related toNorth Frisianskuft(“back of the neck of a horse”)andDutchschoft(“withers(of a horse)”),fromProto-Germanic.Compare alsoOld Norseskopt(“hair of the head”),Gothic𐍃𐌺𐌿𐍆𐍄(skuft,“hair of the head”),Middle High Germanschopf(GermanSchopf).

Noun

scruff(pluralscruffs)

1. The loose skin at the back of the neck of some animals.
2. (rare)The back of the neck,nape;alsoscruff of the neck.

   He grabbed his unruly child by thescruffof the neck, and took him home.

Usage notes

Strictly refers to theloose skinat the back of the neck – found on many mammals, though not humans – rather than the back of the neck itself. While this distinction is not always observed,scruffis used almost exclusively in the phrase “to grab [someone/something] by the scruff [of the neck]”.

Synonyms

• nape
• nucha,nuchal(medical)
• withers(of a horse)

Translations

loose skin at the back of the neck of some animals

• Bashkir:елкә(yelkə)
• Finnish:niskanahka
• Galician:pescozo(gl)m
• Icelandic:hnakkadrambn
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål:nakkeskinnn

  Nynorsk:nakkeskinnn

• Portuguese:cangote(pt)m
• Russian:загри́вок(ru)m(zagrívok)
• Spanish:pescuezo(es)m
• Swedish:nackskinnet

scruff of the neck

• Bashkir:елкә(yelkə)
• Bulgarian:тил(bg)m(til)
• Catalan:clotellm
• Finnish:niskavillat
• Galician:pescozo(gl)m
• German:Schlafittchen(de)n,Genick(de)n
• Russian:шки́рка(ru)m(škírka)(informal)
• Spanish:pescuezo(es)m

Verb

scruff(third-person singular simple presentscruffs,present participlescruffing,simple past and past participlescruffed)

1. (transitive)To lift or carry by the scruff.
   • 2023,Anastasia Ryan,You Should Smile More:

     She gentlyscruffedthe kitten who was trying to climb her leg.

See also

• scuff