Scraggle

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. Growing or hanging in an untidy, irregular, straggling manner, with thin and uneven growth
2. Describing plants or hair that sprawl in a ragged, unkempt, sparse way rather than growing neatly
3. Spreading out in a loose, uneven, disorderly fashion, as untended growth or trailing strands often do

Etymology: "Scraggle" is hard to trace with certainty, but it appears to belong to a family of words for things that are thin, uneven, or ragged. The best-supported link is to "scrag," which in English dialect meant a lean, bony person or animal, and which also gave the cut of lean neck meat called "scrag end." The ending "-le" often marks a repeated or ongoing action in English, as in "dazzle" or "sparkle," so the verb sense of looking untidy or sprawling in an uneven way may have grown out of that base. Its relation to "straggle," a verb meaning to wander away from a group, is also plausible, since the two share a similar sound and meaning. The exact direction of influence is uncertain, and the sources do not settle it. What is clear is that "scraggly," the adjective form meaning rough, uneven, or thin, is the more common everyday descendant in modern English.

Synonyms: straggle, sprawl