English · Slang Historical

scaly

Preserved but no longer current.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Shabby, or mean. Perhaps anything which betokens the presence of the "Old Serpent," or it may be a variation of "fishy."

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Đánh đồng với kẻ bẩn thỉu hoặc keo kiệt

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)

Where it’s used: Origin British & Irish English

Sources & notes

Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.

Topics: Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “scaly” mean?

Shabby, or mean. Perhaps anything which betokens the presence of the "Old Serpent," or it may be a variation of "fishy."

Is “scaly” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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