Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1818-1832, 1884, 1999
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†MALAGRUGROUS, adj. Also malegrugrous (Sc. 1825 Jam.); malagrug(or)ous, malegrueguous; and erratic form ¶malegrobolous. Grim; forbidding; gloomy, dismal, melancholy. Hence malagrugrously, grimly, gloomily. [mɑlə′grug(r)əs]Sc. 1818 Lockhart in Blackwood's Mag. III. 407:
He writes more malagrugrously than Dante.Sc. 1819 Scott Letters (Cent. ed.) V. 392:
Give a look in upon James in his present malagrug[r]ous condition.Ayr. 1832 Galt Stanley Buxton I. viii.:
It was all of her own seeking that the Castle grew so malegrobolous.Abd. 1884 Trans. Bnff. Field Club 29:
I met a malegrueguous beast, It hid ten heads and ten tails.em.Sc. 1999 James Robertson The Day O Judgment 25:
In these dour wurds we mey set doun
Their malagrugous cry:
"O why frae a state o naethin-ness
Did God raise up ma mauchtless frame?
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"Malagrugrous adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 4 Mar 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/malagrugrous>
