"scumball" meaning in English

See scumball in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

Audio: En-au-scumball.ogg [Australia] Forms: more scumball [comparative], most scumball [superlative]
Etymology: scum + ball Etymology templates: {{compound|en|scum|ball}} scum + ball Head templates: {{en-adj}} scumball (comparative more scumball, superlative most scumball)
  1. (slang) Sleazy, disreputable, or despicable. Tags: slang
    Sense id: en-scumball-en-adj-LJWU3DNr

Noun

Audio: En-au-scumball.ogg [Australia] Forms: scumballs [plural]
Etymology: scum + ball Etymology templates: {{compound|en|scum|ball}} scum + ball Head templates: {{en-noun}} scumball (plural scumballs)
  1. (slang) A sleazy, disreputable, or despicable person; a lowlife. Tags: slang Synonyms: scumbag, sleazebag, sleazeball
    Sense id: en-scumball-en-noun-NJ~ixppE Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 30 70

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for scumball meaning in English (4.0kB)

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  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "scum",
        "3": "ball"
      },
      "expansion": "scum + ball",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "scum + ball",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more scumball",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most scumball",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "scumball (comparative more scumball, superlative most scumball)",
      "name": "en-adj"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1996, Barbara Parker, Blood Relations, Signet, published 1997, page 315",
          "text": "\"This kid, your scumball client, also has a rap sheet six pages long. He shot a sixteen-year-old in the back last year and got sixty days on a piss-ass weapons violation because the victim wouldn't testify. […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1999, Lynn Emery, After All, Arabesque Books, page 136",
          "text": "\"I can't help it if your uncle and his scumball friends keep crawling out from under every rock that gets turned over in this town.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006, Jack Kerley, A Garden of Vipers, Dutton, page 288",
          "text": "Another fifty grand for Shuttles; the scumball business was booming.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Sleazy, disreputable, or despicable."
      ],
      "id": "en-scumball-en-adj-LJWU3DNr",
      "links": [
        [
          "Sleazy",
          "sleazy"
        ],
        [
          "disreputable",
          "disreputable"
        ],
        [
          "despicable",
          "despicable"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang) Sleazy, disreputable, or despicable."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-scumball.ogg",
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      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/En-au-scumball.ogg",
      "tags": [
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      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "scumball"
}

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "scum",
        "3": "ball"
      },
      "expansion": "scum + ball",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "scum + ball",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "scumballs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "scumball (plural scumballs)",
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "30 70",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2002, Iris Johansen, Body of Lies, Bantam Books, page 158",
          "text": "Answer me. How would you feel if I was the one who might get knifed in the gullet by some scumball?",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006, Peggy Moreland, The Texan's Convenient Marriage, Harlequin, pages 33–34",
          "text": "Recently widowed and still grieving over the loss of her husband, his mother had been an easy mark for a scumball like Jacob. Playing on her weakened emotional state, within two months Jacob had sweet-talked her into marrying him.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, Haruki Murakami, After Dark (trans. Jay Rubin), Vintage International (2007; original Japanese novel published 2004), page 84",
          "text": "[…] He thinks 'cause he's stronger he can beat up a woman, strip her of everything she's got, and walk away. And on top of it he doesn't pay his damn hotel bill. That's a man for you — a real scumball.\""
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A sleazy, disreputable, or despicable person; a lowlife."
      ],
      "id": "en-scumball-en-noun-NJ~ixppE",
      "links": [
        [
          "sleazy",
          "sleazy"
        ],
        [
          "disreputable",
          "disreputable"
        ],
        [
          "despicable",
          "despicable"
        ],
        [
          "lowlife",
          "lowlife"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang) A sleazy, disreputable, or despicable person; a lowlife."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "scumbag"
        },
        {
          "word": "sleazebag"
        },
        {
          "word": "sleazeball"
        }
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      "tags": [
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      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/En-au-scumball.ogg",
      "tags": [
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  "word": "scumball"
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{
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  "etymology_text": "scum + ball",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more scumball",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
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    },
    {
      "form": "most scumball",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
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  "head_templates": [
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
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      "categories": [
        "English slang",
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        {
          "ref": "1996, Barbara Parker, Blood Relations, Signet, published 1997, page 315",
          "text": "\"This kid, your scumball client, also has a rap sheet six pages long. He shot a sixteen-year-old in the back last year and got sixty days on a piss-ass weapons violation because the victim wouldn't testify. […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1999, Lynn Emery, After All, Arabesque Books, page 136",
          "text": "\"I can't help it if your uncle and his scumball friends keep crawling out from under every rock that gets turned over in this town.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006, Jack Kerley, A Garden of Vipers, Dutton, page 288",
          "text": "Another fifty grand for Shuttles; the scumball business was booming.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Sleazy, disreputable, or despicable."
      ],
      "links": [
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          "Sleazy",
          "sleazy"
        ],
        [
          "disreputable",
          "disreputable"
        ],
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          "despicable",
          "despicable"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang) Sleazy, disreputable, or despicable."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ]
    }
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      "tags": [
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    }
  ],
  "word": "scumball"
}

{
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  ],
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      "expansion": "scum + ball",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "scum + ball",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "scumballs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "scumball (plural scumballs)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English slang",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2002, Iris Johansen, Body of Lies, Bantam Books, page 158",
          "text": "Answer me. How would you feel if I was the one who might get knifed in the gullet by some scumball?",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006, Peggy Moreland, The Texan's Convenient Marriage, Harlequin, pages 33–34",
          "text": "Recently widowed and still grieving over the loss of her husband, his mother had been an easy mark for a scumball like Jacob. Playing on her weakened emotional state, within two months Jacob had sweet-talked her into marrying him.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, Haruki Murakami, After Dark (trans. Jay Rubin), Vintage International (2007; original Japanese novel published 2004), page 84",
          "text": "[…] He thinks 'cause he's stronger he can beat up a woman, strip her of everything she's got, and walk away. And on top of it he doesn't pay his damn hotel bill. That's a man for you — a real scumball.\""
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A sleazy, disreputable, or despicable person; a lowlife."
      ],
      "links": [
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          "sleazy",
          "sleazy"
        ],
        [
          "disreputable",
          "disreputable"
        ],
        [
          "despicable",
          "despicable"
        ],
        [
          "lowlife",
          "lowlife"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang) A sleazy, disreputable, or despicable person; a lowlife."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
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      "audio": "En-au-scumball.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/da/En-au-scumball.ogg/En-au-scumball.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/En-au-scumball.ogg",
      "tags": [
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  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "scumbag"
    },
    {
      "word": "sleazebag"
    },
    {
      "word": "sleazeball"
    }
  ],
  "word": "scumball"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-30 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (210104c and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.