Slippery US cobras can be rough and unattractive (8)

I believe the answer is:

scabrous

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'be rough and unattractive' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'slippery us cobras' is the wordplay.
'slippery' indicates an anagram (I've seen this in other clues).
'us'+'cobras'='uscobras'
'uscobras' with letters rearranged gives 'SCABROUS'.

'can' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for scabrous that I've seen before include "Rough to the touch or salacious" , "Harsh" , "Thorny, with rough surface" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times and the Irish Times (Crosaire).

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