Definition

Adjective: 1. Full of fighting spirit; determined and aggressive, especially in a disorganized or tenacious way: Describes a person, team, or performance that shows a lot of energy, toughness, and a willingness to fight or compete hard, often despite being at a disadvantage. 2. Made up of disconnected parts or fragments; disjointed: Describes something that is composed of bits and pieces, lacking cohesion or a unified structure. (This meaning is less common in modern usage for describing character).

Usage and Examples

• Describing a person or team with fighting spirit:
  • The boxer was smaller but incredibly scrappy, never backing down from a challenge.
  • Our team played a scrappy game, winning through sheer effort and hustle rather than pure skill.
• Describing a determined, aggressive quality:
  • She has a scrappy attitude that helps her overcome any obstacle in business.
  • The candidate ran a scrappy, grassroots campaign.
• (Less common) Describing something fragmentary:
  • The early draft of the novel was scrappy and needed a lot of editing to flow properly.

Advanced Usage and Nuance

• "Scrappy" often implies an underdog quality. It suggests success or effort achieved through grit, resourcefulness, and persistence rather than through superior resources, size, or talent.
• It can have a slightly negative connotation when implying a lack of polish or refinement, but is generally positive when describing determination.
• Common Collocations: scrappy player, scrappy fighter, scrappy performance, scrappy defense, scrappy startup.

Variants and Related Words

• Scrap (noun): A small piece or fragment; a fight or quarrel.
  • He wrote his notes on a scrap of paper.
  • The two kids got into a scrap on the playground.
• Scrap (verb): To discard something as useless; to engage in a fight.
  • We decided to scrap the old plan.
• Scrappiness (noun): The quality of being scrappy.
  • The team's scrappiness was their greatest asset.

Synonyms

• Feisty
• Tenacious
• Gritty
• Pugnacious (more directly inclined to fight)
• Spirited
• Dogged

Antonyms

• Passive
• Compliant
• Unassertive
• Polished (in the sense of being refined rather than rough-and-ready)

Idioms and Common Phrases

• Scrappy underdog: A classic phrase describing a competitor who is not favored to win but fights with great heart and determination.
  • Everyone loves to cheer for the scrappy underdog in the tournament.

Adjective

1. full of fighting spirit
   • a scrappy admiral