Scrubby

Scrubby is an informal English adjective used to describe something or someone as rough, shabby, or of low quality, or as lacking skill or sophistication. In everyday speech, it can refer to physical objects, environments, or behavior. In online and gaming contexts, scrubby commonly describes a person perceived as a novice or as failing to perform competently, often in a playful or pejorative way.

In gamer and internet culture, the related noun scrub is widely used to label a weak or inexperienced player, and scrubby can function as a milder variant. The term is sometimes employed jokingly among friends, or as self-deprecating humor by players who acknowledge their own skill gaps. It may also describe strategies, builds, or characters considered suboptimal. The tone is highly dependent on context and community norms and can range from light-hearted to insulting.

Origins of scrubby trace to scrub, a word with several senses including a low-status person or a rough, scrubby surface. The suffix -y forms adjectives indicating a quality or characteristic; together, scrubby denotes something characterized by scrubbiness or a perception of being a scrub. Precise dating is uncertain, but the usage emerged in modern slang and online vernacular in the late 20th or early 21st century.

This article uses neutral, encyclopedic language to describe the term's general usage. As with many colloquialisms, meaning and acceptability vary by audience and context; readers should consider community norms before using the term.