Clean and Scruffy

Opposite meaning words

Clean adjective - Free from dirt or stain.

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Scruffy is an antonym for clean.

Nearby Words: clear, cleaned, cleanup, clearing, cleanly

Scruffy adjective - Showing signs of advanced wear and tear and neglect.

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Clean is an antonym for scruffy.

Nearby Word: scruff

Farscape is another anti-Star Trek space opera - like Blake's 7, it featured a group of scruffy fugitives as the main characters, alternately fighting or fleeing the clean, well-dressed military.

Source: Spiritual Antithesis
Badass Beard: In the trailer, Arno goes from clean shaven to scruffy overlapping with Beard of Sorrow, since he's clearly grieving Élise's death.

Source: Video Game / Assassin's Creed: Unity
In some versions (which generally don't mention the haircuts of the general populace), the barber with the good hairstyle keeps a clean shop, while the scruffy barber's shop is very messy.

Source: The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes

Cite this Source

Scruffy and Clean. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 14, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/clean/scruffy

Clean & Scruffy. N.p., 2016. Web. 14 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/clean/scruffy>.

Scruffy or Clean. 2016. Accessed August 14, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/clean/scruffy.

Google Ngram Viewer shows how "clean" and "scruffy" have occurred on timeline