scratchy
/ˈskɹæt͡ʃi/adjective
scratchy is spelled S-C-R-A-T-C-H-Y: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,459th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, scratchy means “Characterized by scratches” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in scratchy?
| Letters | 8: S-C-R-A-T-C-H-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 37,459th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is scratchy?
Scratchy appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,459th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce scratchy?
- /ˈskɹæt͡ʃi/
Scratchy has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-scratchy.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of scratchy
- scratchier comparative
- scratchiest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does scratchy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Characterized by scratches.
- 2
Irritating; itchy.
- 3
informalNoisy, lossy; marred by white noise or static as a result of poor or low signal, interference or unfavourable atmospheric conditions.
The FM station two hundred miles away was receivable, but the audio was too scratchy to positively identify.
- 4
Having popping and/or crackling sounds due to excessive wear, especially from scratch marks.
- 5
informalIrritable; tetchy.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does scratchy come from?
From scratch + -y.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).