Scabrous

Word of the Day for Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Scabrous \SKAB-ruhs\, adjective:

1. full of difficulties.
2. having a rough surface because of minute points or projections.
3. indecent or scandalous; risqué; obscene: scabrous books.

The old divorce case had been revived by a journalist. It was moderately scabrous. It had been with the wife of a still-prominent Tory politician.
-- C. P. Snow, In Their Wisdom, 2000

He had amused her with the exacting nature of his questions, and his demands that she should include even the most scabrous details in her accounts.
-- Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, Madeline is Sleeping, 2005

Scabrous is related to the common word scab. Both terms come from the Latin word scaber meaning "rough."

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com