Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. fastidious, hard to please.

1835		J.P. Kennedy Horse Shoe Robinson I 87: I’m not over-scrumptious which [DA].
1845		S. Judd Margaret in Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (1848) 288: I dont want to be scrumptious, judge; but I do want to be a man .

2. (also scronchous, scrum) first-rate, excellent.

1836		T. Haliburton Clockmaker I 196: A little tidy scrumptious looking slay.
1844		‘Jonathan Slick’ High Life in N.Y. I 195: If you want to slick up, hadn’t you better take the new fix, it’ll look a good deal more scrumptious?
1851		Manchester Spy (NH) 4 Oct. n.p.: ‘[I] war thinkin’ how scrumptious a feller [...] would feel a wallerin’ round in that ar water’.
1856		Melbourne Punch 20 Nov. 3/3: ‘Proposals for a New Slang Dictionary’ [...] O.K. —Adj. To rights, proper, stunning, of the right sort, prime, all serene, crummy, some, out-an-out, scrumtious, &c, of the initials of the old English words, Orle Korrect.
1859		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. 88: SCRUMPTIOUS, nice, particular, beautiful.
1861		R.H. Newell Orpheus C. Kerr I 19: She jist ripped away [...] screaming ‘fire’ like a scrumptious fire department.
1866		Wild Boys of London I 82/2: Well, I tell yer she’s scrumptious; sich hies, and can’t she box, neither?
1876		Exeter & Plymouth Gaz. 22 Dec. 3/4: Mirriage is [...] oh! there’s but one word — Golumptious! Bosh! Blus Senior’s spliced-wife nags him. Scrumptious.
1882		E. Nye Forty Liars (1888) 141: The wild-eyed lunatic [...] in his scrumptious swoop from the top of a flour barrel.
1889		Dead Bird (Sydney) 21 Dec. 11/1: What a pretty little scrumptious duck you are.
1898		Kipling ‘In Ambush’ Complete Stalky & Co. (1987) 33: ‘Whew! What a place! Talk of natural history; this is it,’ said Stalky, filling himself a pipe. ‘Isn’t it scrumptious?’.
c.1900		Bateman & LeBrunn [perf. Vesta Victoria] A 'oliday on One Pound Ten 🎵 It was scrumptious on Tuesday to the bathing place to roam.
1907		Gem 23 Mar. 16: I’ve got a scrumpshus fire there.
1911		L. Pound ‘A Second Word-List From Nebraska’ DN III:vii 547: scrum, adj. Fine, elegant; apparently a shortening of scrumptious. ‘What a scrum “do” you have on your hair.’.
1911		E.B. Morris Junior 28: Violet. I’m a Freshman in the college here [...] Ain’t that scrumptious?
1912		A. Brazil Fourth Form Friendship 72: ‘Has it been fun spending the day here?’ ‘Simply scrumptious!’.
1914		‘Bartimeus’ ‘The Ship-Visitors’ in Naval Occasions 50: ‘Hasn’t it been lovely!’ gasped the elder girl, as they walked back to their hotel. ‘Scrumptious!’ assented her sister.
1922		S. Lewis Babbitt (1974) 229: Well, now, I think it’s a scrumptious name. Ida!
1933		G. Milburn No More Trumpets 42: We had such a scrumptious time.
1935		Z.N. Hurston Mules and Men (1995) 39: And what makes it so cool, we close enough to you to have a scronchous time, but never no halter on our necks.
1945		P. Larkin letter 20 Dec. in Thwaite Sel. Letters (1992) 111: Thanks ever so much for your simply scrumptious Christmas card [...] I like it awfully and think it shows a real sense of design.
1950		A. Christie Murder Is Announced (1958) 11: Oo, scrumptious! [...] There’s going to be a murder at Miss Blacklock’s.
1963		W.C. Anderson Penelope 96: That am a beautiful thing! [...] Absolutely scrumptious.
1989		R. Dahl Rhyme Stew (1990) 15: Her ladyship leaps high with joy / And cries, ‘Well done, my scrumptious boy!’.
1999		Indep. Rev. 17 July 10: The descriptions are all absolutely scrumptious.

3. stylish, handsome, attractive.

1833		S. Smith Major Downing (1834) 50: The Gineral Court, who all had their hats off, and looking pretty scrumptious, you may depend.
1841		W.L. Rede Sixteen String Jack III v: Will you dance, Christopher, my scrumptious pet?
1855		W.G. Simms Forayers 81: Polly mighty smart and scrumptious, Mass Willie.
1862		‘Artemus Ward’ Artemus Ward, His Book 96: Thay lookt putty scrumpshus in their Bloo coats with brass buttings.
1863		Carlisle Jrnl 25 Dec. 6/3: As I strolled down Piccadilly, / A scrumptious gal I met / [...] / Her dress was held up high. / Chorus — O did you twig her ankle?
1866		Letters by an Odd Boy 163: ’ Why should the beautiful girl I adore — and she is beautiful, I can tell you — be ‘scrumptious?’.
1887		‘’Arry at the Sea-Side’ Punch 10 Sept. 111/1: Oh, I’m up to the knocker, I tell yer; fresh ’errins for breakfast, old pal, / Bottled beer by the bucket, prime ’bacca, and oh, such a scrumptious young gal.
1891		Lic. Vict. Gazette 23 Jan. n.p.: Scrumptious girls who danced at the Alcazar [F&H].
1897		Nebraska State-Jrnl (Lincoln, NE) 1 Aug. 14/7: He hadn’t the slightest idea where ‘the scrumptious Mr Colley thompson’ lived.
1917		San Bernadino Dly Sun (CA) 25 Nov. 23/2: That swell apartment house ‘The St Scrumptious’ over on the Drive.
1921		Topeka Dly Capital (KS) 22 Dec. n.p.: I particularly want you to notice the chemis of crepe de chine [...] perfectly wonderful [...] the most scrumptious.
1963		F. Kohner Affairs of Gidget 57: My! [...] Do you look scrumptious!
1975		L.A. Times 27 Apr. 565/2: Beverly Hills most dramatic and unusual Spanish Hacienda [...] overlooks scrumptious gardens.
1986		F. Taylor Auf Wiedersehen Pet Two 53: Not with a BMW and that scrumptious little wife back home.
1999		(con. 1979–80) A. Wheatle Brixton Rock (2004) 86: I want to count the hair molecules on your scrumptious thighs.
1999		P. Temple Black Tide (2012) [ebook] She married the scrumptious Gary.
2008		M. Forleo Make Every Man Want You 119: Perfect Packaging, or How to Be a Delicious, Scrumptious, Knock-His-Socks-Off, Take-Me-Home-Now Gorgeous Gal 24-7.

4. (mainly teen, also scrumtious) of food, delicious, extremely tasty.

1842		J. Labern ‘Christmas Capers’ Comic Songs 27: Logs burning – spits turning, / For a scrumtious Mortal George.
1884		Leicester Chron. 12 July 10/3: The cook [...] gathered up all the scraps she could find, adding a large loaf and a good piece of meat. ‘Scrumptious! There’s a cant!’ said ‘Mumper Duck’.
1888		‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Robbery Under Arms (1922) 145: We had a scrumptious feed that night, beefsteaks and eggs, fresh butter and milk.
1922		Joyce Ulysses 706: ...will always think of the lovely teas we had together scrumptious currant scones and raspberry wafers.
1930		K.S. Prichard Haxby’s Circus 329: Max liked to amuse herself [...] making strange messes of beef-steak and tomato and onions which Laller declared were scrumptious.
1949		L.A. Times 16 June 11/2: From the first wonderful bite to the last delicious crumb ‘They’re simply scrumptious!’ [DA].
1954		J. Betjeman ‘Original Sin on the Sussex Coast’ in Coll. Poems (1970) 219: When the Post-Toasties mixed with Golden Shred / Make for the kiddies such a scrumptious feast.
1957		D. Niland Call Me When the Cross Turns Over (1958) 56: Mmm! What scrumptious smells.
1958		‘Cooking Hints’ 19 Feb. [synd. col.] For a scrumptious desert fold a half cup of chopped pitted dates into [...] butterscotch pie filling [W&F].
1970		L. Sanders Anderson Tapes 130: ANDERSON: [G]et us a big chicken we can fry and a lot of cold beer. How does that sound? MRS. EVERLEIGH: That sounds scrumptious.
1982		(con. 1970) J.M. Del Vecchio 13th Valley (1983) 378: This sauce is . . . just, scrumptious.
1996		Philadelphia Inquirer (PA) 16 June 268/1: The only other place I know that offers such scrumptious food is Casablanca.
2007		W. Reese Natural Pet Food Cookbook 68: Stupendous Stews, Savory Soups, and Scrumptious Sauces.
2013		News-Press (Fort Myers, FL) 12 June A21/1: Birthday Cake cupcakes are a kid favorite at Prefectly Scrumptious in Bonita Springs.