Scag

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A derogatory term for a person considered unpleasant or contemptible; a slang name for low-quality or illicit drugs, especially heroin; a type of cheap or discarded material often regarded as worthless
2. An insulting label for someone thought to be despicable or disreputable; informal jargon for narcotics of low-grade purity; any refuse or scrap material regarded as trash
3. A pejorative nickname for an individual judged scummy or untrustworthy; street slang for addictive substances of poor quality; leftover or scrap items typically deemed useless or junk

Etymology: The origin of "scag" is unknown, and the best etymologists can do is point to its relatives. Slang has a cluster of similar-sounding words that cover the same ground: "scat" is used for heroin and also for whiskey, "slag" means waste material and, in older British usage, a prostitute, and "skank" is a disreputable woman. That pattern of overlapping senses suggests "scag" belongs to a family of informal words that drifted between drugs, refuse, and contempt for people, but no one has established which word gave rise to the others. The drug sense is the one most people now know. Heroin slang multiplied heavily in mid-twentieth-century American speech, and "scag" became one of its common names, while the same word also covers cheap, low-grade material and, applied to people, something contemptible. The three meanings share the notion of worthlessness, which is perhaps the only thread the evidence reliably supports.

Synonyms: junk, rubbish, trash, refuse, scrap