smudgy

[ smuhj-ee ]

adjective

, smudg·i·er, smudg·i·est.

1. marked with smudges; smeared; smeary.
2. emitting a stifling smoke; smoky.
3. British Dialect. humid; sweltering; sultry.

smudgy

/ smʌdʒɪ /

adjective

1. smeared, blurred, or soiled, or likely to become so
2. made deliberately indistinct or cloudy

   smudgy colours

Derived Forms

• ˈsmudginess, noun

Other Words From

• smudgi·ly adverb
• smudgi·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of smudgy¹

First recorded in 1840–50; smudge + -y ¹

Example Sentences

As I strained my eyes to look beyond the smudgy, glass window of my tiny bush plane, the view came at me like a torrent.

From Outside Online

Her hair was disheveled, her sleeves rolled back, and her face smudged from her smudgy fingers.

From Project Gutenberg

And would the sea itself permit vile iron and smudgy coal to speck its immaculate bosom?

From Project Gutenberg

With his fingers added up to his satisfaction and the total found correct, he again turned his gaze out of the smudgy window.

From Project Gutenberg

Cap'n Sproul busied himself with a little pile of smudgy account-books, each representing a road district of the town.

From Project Gutenberg

The Daily Intelligencer was spread on a newsstand, a smudgy black bannerhead fouling its pure bosom.

From Project Gutenberg