scummy
Americanadjective
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consisting of or having scum.
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Informal. despicable; contemptible.
That was a scummy trick.
adjective
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of, resembling, consisting of, or covered with scum
-
dirty, unpleasant, or nasty
Etymology
Origin of scummy
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Bunny” This East Village indie by debut director Ben Jacobson is a scummy gem.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 5, 2025
But it’s not too late to rescue even a disaster like scummy tea.
From New York Times ● Jan. 24, 2024
Of course that would be scummy, and it sounds like it must be fraud.
From Slate ● Dec. 6, 2022
Listen, spin docs: Quit rebranding pols who’ve acted scummy!
From Washington Post ● Sep. 22, 2022
No more toad to hop from stone to scummy stone.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
It was a macho thing: 'My contact is scummier than your contact.'
From Reuters ● Jul. 16, 2011
It would be cool if people could refrain from being their absolute scummiest, occasionally.
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2022
In San Francisco, “you could be the scummiest person, you could be a doctor. You can be whatever you want to be. This city gives you all the skills to do it.”
From The Guardian ● Oct. 9, 2017
Dish towels are some of the scummiest things in your kitchen.
From Time ● Jul. 14, 2017
Stocky paparazzi, wearing the same cargo-shorts-black-logo-tee uniform they wear on the scummiest corners of Hollywood Boulevard, lug their gear down the sidewalk in search of that perfect shot to sell to an Italian tabloid.
From The Verge ● May 15, 2015
Since then, as often as he has time, he goes to bathe in the scummiest parts, and then comes and tells me all about it with any amount of circumstantial evidence.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 146, April 15, 1914 by Sir Owen Seaman
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