scurf

4 synonyms for scurf, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.

Noun — A disease that affects the skin.

Synonyms

Everyday swaps

Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.

scale

Less common

Still standard English, but they carry more weight.

scum

Rare, literary or technical

Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.

exfoliation dandruff

Synonyms by Meaning

1. noun

A disease that affects the skin.

exfoliation scale

2. noun

Small pieces of skin that come off because of a skin condition.

dandruff

3. noun

(dated) A dirty layer left behind by something that has stuck to a surface.

scum

Etymology

Comes from scurf (“skin disease causing scabs or scales; flakes of skin that fall off due to a skin disease, etc.”), which developed from Old English scurf, from Proto-Germanic *skurf- (“to gnaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off, sever; to divide, separate”). It is cognate with Dutch schurft, German Sch...

Full origin of scurf →

People also searched

scale scum exfoliation dandruff

Nearby words

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