scurrilous









scurrilous


adjective

  1. grossly or obscenely abusive: a scurrilous attack on the mayor.
  2. characterized by or using low buffoonery; coarsely jocular or derisive: a scurrilous jest.

adjective

  1. grossly or obscenely abusive or defamatory
  2. characterized by gross or obscene humour

adj.“using such language as only the licence of a buffoon can warrant” [Johnson], 1570s, from scurrile “coarsely joking” (c.1500, implied in scurrility), from Latin scurrilis “buffoonlike,” from scurra “fashionable city idler, man-about-town,” later “buffoon.” According to Klein, “an Etruscan loan-word.” Related: Scurrilously; scurrilousness.

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