scratchy

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈskrætʃi/ UK /ˈskrætʃi/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
rough and irritating to the touch; making a harsh, grating sound

The wool sweater felt scratchy against her bare neck.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · rough and irritating to the... rough prickly coarse grating raspy abrasive

Opposites

smooth soft silky

Word family

Derived forms scratchinessscratchily

Related forms scratch scratcher scratching

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

scratchy throat
a throat that feels rough and irritated

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From the noun/verb 'scratch' + adjectival '-y'; 'scratch' is from late Middle English, a blend of 'scrat' and 'cratch'.

-y Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# scratchy

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈskrætʃi/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈskrætʃi/

## Meanings
1. rough and irritating to the touch; making a harsh, grating sound

## Examples
- The wool sweater felt scratchy against her bare neck.

## Synonyms
- rough
- prickly
- coarse
- grating
- raspy
- abrasive

## Antonyms
- smooth
- soft
- silky

## Derived Forms
- scratchiness
- scratchily

## Related Forms
- scratch
- scratcher
- scratching

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: -y

## Etymology
From the noun/verb 'scratch' + adjectival '-y'; 'scratch' is from late Middle English, a blend of 'scrat' and 'cratch'.

## AI Etymology
Scratchy comes from the noun/verb 'scratch' + adjectival '-y'; 'scratch' is from late Middle English, a blend of 'scrat' and 'cratch'. The historical chain includes Old English -y. Older glosses in the chain include "scratch", "-y", "scrat", and "cratch", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, scratchy is best read as compound and borrowing, yielding an English adjective shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as an adjective, with the sense "rough and irritating to the touch; making a harsh, grating sound". English derivatives include scratchiness and scratchily; related forms include scratch, scratcher, and scratching. The result is an English adjective whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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