scrumptious

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English

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Etymology

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Probably from scrimp (to put on short allowance, limit, straiten; to be frugal) +‎ -ious (suffix forming adjectives denoting the presence of a quality in any degree (usually an abundance)), possibly modelled after scrimption (small portion, little bit, scrap).[1]

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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scrumptious (comparative more scrumptious, superlative most scrumptious) (originally US, informal)

  1. Of food: delectable, delicious.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:delicious
    Antonym: unscrumptious
    What a scrumptious treat!
  2. Of a person or thing: excellent, wonderful; also, very aesthetically pleasing or attractive; good enough to eat.
    • 1865, George Meredith, “The Melting of the Thousand”, in Rhoda Fleming. [], volume II, London: Tinsley Brothers, [], →OCLC, page 262:
      [] I came here to have a wink at the fash'nables—hang me, if ever I see such a scrumptious lot.
    • 1989 March 6, The Sydney Morning Herald, page 8S, column 1:
      Barbara Cartland scratched out this trusty 19th-century romancer concerning the scrumptious Serena Staverly (Diana Rigg), who has the dreadful misfortune to be lost in a game of cards to the flint-hearted Lord Justin.
  3. (obsolete, rare)
    1. Fastidious, picky.
    2. Very small; tiny.

Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ scrumptious, adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2023; scrumptious, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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