Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1728
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THARF, adj. Also thairf and met. forms thraf(f). Cold in manner, stiff, unsocial, aloof, backward, reluctant (wm. and s.Sc. 1887 Jam.). Deriv. tharfish, of a shy, timorous, shrinking nature (Id.).Sc. c.1728 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) III. 207, 319:
She'll not be thraff, if ye be tenty. . . . Did I prove sweer or thraf refusing, While kindly thus ye strake my pow.
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"Tharf adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 9 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/tharf>
