carrion
Meanings
Plural: carrions
Noun
- the dead and rotting body of an animal; unfit for human food
- Rotting flesh of a dead animal or person.
- Corrupt or horrid matter.
- Filth, garbage.
- The flesh of a living human body; also (Christianity), sinful human nature.
- A dead body; a carcass, a corpse.
- An animal which is in poor condition or worthless; also, an animal which is a pest or vermin.
- A contemptible or worthless person.
Adj
- Pertaining to, or made up of, rotting flesh.
- Disgusting, horrid, rotten.
- Of the living human body, the soul, etc.: fleshly, mortal, sinful.
- Very thin; emaciated, skeletonlike.
- Of or pertaining to death.
Origin / Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English careine, caroigne (“dead body, corpse; animal carcass; reanimated corpse; gangrenous or rotting body or flesh; mortal nature; (derogatory) living body; (figurative) disgusting or worthless thing”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman careine, caroigne, charogne, and Old French charoigne, Northern Old French caˈronië, caroine, caroigne (modern French charogne), probably from Vulgar Latin *carōnia, from Latin caro (“flesh”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off, sever; to divide, separate”)) + -ia (suffix forming nouns). Doublet of crone.
The regular modern English form would be *carren, *carron /ˈkæɹən/ (this is found dialectally; see similar kyarn); the intervening /i/ is probably a hypercorrection based on the analogy of words like merlin/merlion.
The adjective is derived from the noun.
Synonyms
abject, absolute zero, angular, anorexic, asswipe, badling, base, beggarly, blameworthy, blatherskite, bugger, carrion, cheap, cipher, cockstain, contemptible, cringing, crumb, custron, dandiprat, dedecorous, degraded, deridable, derisible, despicable, despisable, dirty, discreditable, disdainable, disgraceful, dishonorable, disreputable, doink, emaciated, execrable, fellow, fritlag, gangling, gangly, gaunt, geek, good-for-naught, good-for-nothing, groveling, haggard, hoon, ignoble, ignominious, inglorious, lame, lank, lanky, laughable, leptosome, lidderon, loathsome, losel, loser, louse, low, ludicrous, macilent, maggot, mean, mean-spirited, miserable, ne'er-do-well, no-good, no-mark, nonce, nonentity, nowmun, obscene, outrageous, paltry, pelf, pencil-necked, pig dog, pile of shit, pissant, pitiable, pitiful, plebeian, punk, puny, putrid, quat, ramp, rangy, rawboned, reedy, reprehensible, reptile, reptilian, reptitious, ridiculous, rinky-dink, risible, roly-poly, roynish, scald, scornworthy, scraggy, scrawny, scullion, scummy, scurvy, shabby, shameful, skin and bones, skinny, slavish, sleazy, slimy, slubberdegullion, sordid, sorry, sparrow-fart, starved, streak of piss, thin as a rake, toerag, trashy, truant, twerp, ugly, uncommendable, uncool, undernourished, underperson, underweight, unmentionable, unsophisticated, unwashed, unworthy, vile, vulgar, wankstain, waste of space, wasted, weak, weedy, worthless, wretched
Scrabble Score: 9
carrion is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordcarrion is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
carrion is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary