dross
Americannoun
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waste matter; refuse.
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Metallurgy. a waste product taken off molten metal during smelting, essentially metallic in character.
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British. coal of little value.
noun
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the scum formed, usually by oxidation, on the surfaces of molten metals
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worthless matter; waste
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dross
before 1050; Middle English dros ( se ), Old English drōs; cognate with Middle Dutch droes dregs; compare Middle English drōsen, Old English drōsna; cognate with Middle High German truosen husks
Explanation
Things that are a total loss — really worthless or damaging — are dross. That gunk between your teeth that comes out when you floss? You could call that dross. No one wants it, and it's harmful if it stays. While dross is a noun for stuff that's physically left over or useless, like the nonmetallic stuff left when metal gets refined, it's also used for people and forms of art. A really bad movie can be called dross, and a low or despicable person can be dross. Debris, or trash, is another form of dross. "Searching the backyard for unexploded fireworks — the dross of Chinese New Year celebrations — was a tradition for the kids and a safeguard for the dogs."
Vocabulary lists containing dross
The Merchant of Venice
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Circe
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Spoon River Anthology
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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.
Still: was that an argument, or a performance of Glengarry Glen Dross?
From The Guardian • Sep. 16, 2016
Verdict Dross swords ... a kitsch glitch for Malkovich The 1980s cartoon Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds is considerably more faithful to literature and to history than this.
From The Guardian • Oct. 21, 2010
Ah, the alchemy which doth change Dross of body and dregs of spirit Into sanctities rare and strange!
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 17, No. 101, March, 1866 by Various
The novel "Dross" was produced in America in 1899, having appeared serially in this country in a well-known newspaper.
From The Slave of the Lamp by Merriman, Henry Seton
I was dreadfully floored by this answer, and could only mutter mechanically, "Dross," "Missionary,'" "Modulator," in a vain effort to seize the situation.
From Literary Tours in The Highlands and Islands of Scotland by Holmes, Daniel Turner
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
