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Scurrilous – Word Wednesday Fun

Right folks, scurrilous is today’s word irregardless of what you thought! 🙂

Scurrilous is a word that puts me in mind of Donald Trump’s tonsorial state. It would be contumelious of me to add anything further under that heading. Please, no ribald comments!

It’s another fine sounding word. There’s something about words that have that ‘skuh’ sound to them, don’t you think?

Before I go to the definition, I’d like to thank my Filipino readers who keep an eye out for this feature to help them broaden their English vocabulary. And, especially Kimmy 🙂

That’s one of the reasons I use the American English M-W dictionary. The Philippines uses American English for historical reasons.

But, I also thank all of my international readers particularly Adam from Canada for his intelligent and insightful comments. You can find Adam on his blog at The Retrospective Reel.

Scurrilous in Merriam-Webster

Right, usual format with Merriam-Webster first –

scurrilous
adjective scur·ri·lous \ˈskər-ə-ləs, ˈskə-rə-\
Popularity: Bottom 50% of words
Simple Definition
: said or done unfairly to make people have a bad opinion of someone

Full Definition
1
a : using or given to coarse language
b : vulgar and evil <scurrilous imposters who used a religious exterior to rob poor people — Edwin Benson>
2
: containing obscenities, abuse, or slander <scurrilous accusations>
scurrilously adverb
scurrilousness noun

Examples in a sentence
scurrilous attacks on the senator
<a scurrilous satire on the scandal that enveloped Washington>

First Known Use 1576 [no further details given]

Synonyms
contumelious, invective, opprobrious, scurrile (or scurril), abusive, truculent, vitriolic, vituperative, vituperatory

Interesting Facebook Comment left on the M-W page:
Ray Whatley · Owner at Ray Whatley Appraisals
I was reading about William Shakespeare. He had disappeared from his home town in about 1575 and there were many rumors about why. It had been speculated that he ran because he supposedly poached deer from the estate of the local squire, Thomas Lucy. Shakespeare later took revenge against Mr. Lucy by writing a scurrilous ballad about him.
Like · Reply · Apr 23, 2016 12:45pm

Now for the Urban Dictionary definition –

Scurrilous: Urban Dictionary

(adj.) grossly obscene
Dude, that zombie just ripped that kids intestines out and devoured them. How scurrilous!
by Maci McLeroy October 27, 2013

Oh! Well. It takes all sorts … 🙂



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