scratchy
/ˈskɹæt͡ʃi/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.79 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
adj
adj
Noisy, lossy; marred by white noise or static as a result of poor or low signal, interference or unfavourable atmospheric conditions.
Informal
adj
Having popping and/or crackling sounds due to excessive wear, especially from scratch marks.
Example Sentences
- "An indulgent playmate, Grannie would lay aside the long scratchy-looking letter she was writing (heavily crossed ‘to save notepaper’) and enter into the delightful pastime of ‘a chicken from Mr Whiteley's’."
- "The FM station two hundred miles away was receivable, but the audio was too scratchy to positively identify."
- "Once he almost fell asleep, and then the little record player started up in his mother and father's bedroom. Mom was playing her scratchy Elvis 45s again."
- "'Now, now, don't get scratchy,' said Casali. 'You've got enough troubles of your own. […]"
Etymology
Etymology tree English scratch Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English scratchy From scratch + -y.