From Latin scurrīlis (“buffoon-like”) + -ous, from scurra (“a buffoon”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈskʌ.ɹə.ləs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈskɜɹələs/, /ˈskʌɹələs/

scurrilous (comparative more scurrilous, superlative most scurrilous)

1. (of a person) Given to vulgar verbal abuse; foul-mouthed.
2. (of language)
   1. Coarse, vulgar, or abusive.
   2. Slanderous.
      • 2022 February 3, Heather Stewart, quoting Munira Mirza, “Boris Johnson’s policy chief quits over PM’s ‘scurrilous’ Savile remark”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

        She said Johnson was “a better man than many of your detractors will ever understand”, adding that it was “so desperately sad that you let yourself down by making a scurrilous accusation against the leader of the opposition”.

3. Gross, vulgar.
4. Unscrupulous, evil.

   We have had our address used by scurrilous crooks in the past to gain assets by fraud.

   • 2013, Alex Himelfarb, Jordan Himelfarb, Tax Is Not a Four-Letter Word: A Different Take on Taxes in Canada‎^[2]:

     "Some days, I try to imagine how scurrilous it would be for a left-leaning government in Canada to embark on such a costly political agenda for, say, a 10-year period, and still find itself unable to convince Canadians that the majority have benefited from this."

   • 1967, Stan Lee, John Romita Sr, The Amazing Spider-Man #48:

     "Instead, another dangerous killer now roams our streets, thanks to that scurrilous, sinister super-heel!"

• scurrile
• scurrilously
• scurrilousness
• scurrility

• “scurrilous”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “scurrilous”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “scurrilous”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.