scrofulous

adj

1. (dated)Of, related to, or suffering from scrofula (form of tuberculosis tending to cause enlarged lymph nodes and skin inflammation).

   “On the ſurface of the water there floats a liquid bitumen, although it be every day ſcummed off, as it doth on the lake Aſphaltites in Judæa: The Inhabitants uſe it as pitch: it is alſo found to be an excellent vulnerary, and good in curing old cacoethic and ſcrophulous ulcers.”

   “The proſtate gland is ſometimes ſcrofulous. I have ſeen, in cutting into it, preciſely the ſame white curdly matter, which takes place in a ſcrofulous abſorbent gland. In ſqueezing it alſo, I have forced from out from its ducts a ſcrofulous pus.”

2. (figuratively)Having an unkempt, unhealthy appearance.

   “Poor devil, he's gone to the dogs altogether. He's got some twopenny-halfpenny job in the medical at Alexandria—sanitary officer or something like that. I'm told he lives with an ugly old Greek woman and has half a dozen scrofulous kids.”

   “[…] I wrestle with the events of the last two years, picking over the past, looking for the reasons why I find myself here, gazing across a multitude of day trippers, sunburned holidaymakers, squalling children, ignorant matrons perusing their puzzle magazines, scrofulous bank clerks surreptitiously kissing their new girlfriends on the lips as if amazed at their daring.”

3. (figuratively)Morally degenerate; corrupt.

   “a scrofulous politician”

   “It is time, [Steve] Huffman concluded, for the “reprehensible” denizens of the Internet’s scrofulous “dark side” to find another home.”

   “Perhaps the oddest thing about [Donald] Trump's run was how little effect the media's documentation of his scrofulous past had on his image.”

   “Whenever pride is expressed in anything Scottish these days, a flotilla of prominent pro-UK supporters is always on hand to sniff out any signs of scrofulous nationalism.”