scarify Synonyms & Antonyms
Choose a meaning, then find a word that fits your sentence.
Scarify as a Verb
To remove thatch (build-up of organic matter on the soil) from a lawn, to dethatch.
To make scratches or cuts on.
A combing tool is used to scarify, cross-scratch, or score the surface of a scratch coat or undercoat of plaster.
To damage the testa (seed coat) of a seed by cutting, scraping, chemicals, hot water, or fire to allow permeation of water and faster germination.
To break up, loosen, or roughen the surface of a field or road or a hard surface.
To scratch, etch, burn, or cut designs into one's skin as a form of body modification.
To harrow the feelings.
To scar.
Denude, or lay waste to.
To frighten; to scare, to terrify.
Scarify in a Sentence
A combing tool is used to scarify, cross-scratch, or score the surface of a scratch coat or undercoat of plaster.
Word Forms & Grammar
scarify (third-person singular simple present scarifies, present participle scarifying, simple past and past participle scarified)
Origin of Scarify
Origin 1: From French scarifier, from Late Latin scarificāre, from Latin scarifāre (“to scarify”), from Ancient Greek σκαριφᾶσθαι (skariphâsthai, “scratch”), from σκάριφος (skáriphos, “writing, drawing, sketching”). Unrelated to scar, though influenced by it by analogy (particularly the nonstandard sense “to scar”).
Origin 2: Related to scribe (verb) and shrive, via Latin scrībō, from the same Proto-Indo-European *skreybʰ- plus Latin -ō (denominative verb suffix).
Origin 3: From scare + -ify.
Scarify: Key Facts
| Part of speech | verb |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /ˈskæ.ɹɪˌfaɪ/ |
| Syllables | 3 |
| Meaning | To remove thatch (build-up of organic matter on the soil) from a lawn, to dethatch |
| Verb forms | scarifies, scarifying, scarified |
How Do You Say Scarify?
Scarify is pronounced /ˈskæ.ɹɪˌfaɪ/ and has 3 syllables, with the main stress on the first syllable (skæ).