scratchy
English
Etymology
Pronunciation
Adjective
scratchy (comparative scratchier, superlative scratchiest)
- Characterized by scratches.
- 1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in An Autobiography, part I, London: Collins, →ISBN:
- An indulgent playmate, Grannie would lay aside the long scratchy-looking letter she was writing (heavily crossed ‘to save notepaper’) and enter into the delightful pastime of ‘a chicken from Mr Whiteley's’.
- (chiefly of a sore throat) Annoying, irritating, itchy.
- (informal, of an analogue radio transmission) Noisy, lossy; marred by white noise or static as a result of poor or low signal, interference or unfavourable atmospheric conditions.
- The FM station two hundred miles away was receivable, but the audio was too scratchy to positively identify.
- (of a phonograph record) Having popping and/or crackling sounds due to excessive wear, especially from scratch marks.
- 1991, Stephen King, Needful Things
- Once he almost fell asleep, and then the little record player started up in his mother and father's bedroom. Mom was playing her scratchy Elvis 45s again.
- 1991, Stephen King, Needful Things